Warframe: Endings
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Everything that exists has a beginning. it has a middle. And it has an end. This is a fanfiction. I own none of the rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Waking**

Jesse was smiling as she walked with Elenia towards the meeting that had been called. The Citadel was quiet. Not that it had ever been any other way in Jesse's limited experience. So few Tenno called this place home now, they rattled about like shotgun pellets in a washtub. You could walk for hours and not see anyone. But it still felt welcoming, this bastion of Tenno power. So Jesse could not stop smiling no matter how hard she tried. Not that she tried very hard.

"I must look like a fool." Jesse said to her companion. The Mag Prime warframe beside her shook her head. "What?"

"You look like the cat that got into the cream." Elenia had a knowing smile in her own voice. "Not foolish." She paused as Jesse stared at her. "What?"

"'The cat that got into the cream'?" Jesse asked, confused. "'Cat' I know. Small furred animal of the family Felidea. But what is 'cream'?" Elenia seemed to wilt a bit and Jesse shook her head. "Ah never mind." She slumped, just a little. "I am... a bit shocked still." Elenia held out her hand and Jesse took it. "I thought you all were going to say 'No'."

"We almost did." Elenia said as she gave Jesse's hand a squeeze. "Your way is not ours, Sister Jesse. You know this. Yes, it was special. But... Some of it made you uncomfortable." Jesse started to protest, but Elenia was having none of it. "Jesse." She said sternly. "It was special, but it won't happen again. You are not like me and Jasmina. And we will not try to make you act as we do."

"I... know." Jesse admitted, hanging her head a little. She gave a squeak as Elenia's free hand came out and tapped her cheek gently. "What?"

"You will find your own way, sister." Elenia said kindly. "You may count me as a friend. Just not a lover." Jesse swallowed hard and then quickly embraced the Mag Prime. "Hey." Elenia snorted as she gently returned the embrace. "We won't be strangers. And yes, we could use your help. Where we are has some odd problems with its systems. No maintenance in a long time. We do what we can, but it isn't always right."

"Would you trust me?" Jesse asked carefully as she withdrew a bit. Elenia looked away and Jesse nodded. "No, of course not. I understand. I will abide by whatever restrictions you demand. And I will have to keep Raven and Draco..." She trailed off, her face falling.

"No, no." Elenia said quickly. "Not that. It's not that we distrust you. It's just..." She broke off as Jesse hugged her again. "Hey."

"You Caretakers have been betrayed so many times." Jesse said sadly. "No wonder you cannot trust."

"It is not just that, Jesse." Elenia said as she held Jesse gently, as if the young Cyberlancer was fragile beyond belief. "From the beginnings of our history, Tenno have known about the perils of the Technocyte Virus." She gave Jesse a little shake. "I know Trinity told you."

"She did." Jesse's tone might have been a bit husky, but then again...

It wasn't every day that one of the Hayden Tenno's first apprentices tutored someone. Trinity was very much a legend, even discounting that she had been _both_ Healer _and_ Cyberlancer. The fact that she had died and the remnants of her personality resided in a somewhat macabre form of a technological afterlife did not dim her spirit in any way. Jesse knew that the being she had met wasn't the 'real' Trinity. That female Tenno had died millennia before Jesse had been born. But she wasn't _gone_. That was enough for Jesse.

"Tenno came from the Techocyte Virus." Jesse said quietly as Elenia released her and stepped back. "We know better than any the dangers of the Virus. Asking us to put aside thousands of years worth of animosity-" She broke off as Elenia shook her head again. "What?"

"Not animosity, Jesse." The Mag Prime replied calmly. "Wariness. We Caretakers understand that far clearer than most. Sure, the mind mass we tend is sane. But the rest are not. We have and will fight the feral Infested to protect our family and acquire biomass." Jesse stared at her, horror dawning and Elenia nodded slowly. "We need biomass to reproduce more of our kind just as the other Infested do, Jesse. But we take it from already Infested sources. Not any who have not been exposed."

"I see." Jesse's tone might have been a little flatter than usual, but Elenia did not react. The young Cyberlancer shook her head. "I am not comfortable with that."

"No one is asking you to be." Elenia held out a hand that Jesse took. "This job is not fun in any way, shape or form. It has it's perks, but also its burdens. We are not going to saddle you with those. We just need some technological help."

"Fair enough." Jesse acknowledged. "As soon as I can talk to Raven and Draco, I will see about providing that help." She smiled. "But, I also owe you something for a _very_ special night."

"It was special to me too, Jesse." Elenia gave the younger Tenno's hand a squeeze and started off. "But for right now, we need to check up on what else is happening and get you back to your sponsor."

"Is Jasmina still here?" Jesse asked as she followed the other.

"No." Elenia sighed a bit. "One of us needs to be available at any time." Jesse looked at her and Elenia shrugged. "Caretakers, you know? Poor ones we would be if we were not ready to take care of those who look to us."

"Fair enough." Jesse gave herself a shake and then looked around as they walked. "I don't know this place. You do?"

"No." Elenia replied with a small laugh. "I cheated. I asked the mind mass for the floor plans and directions to conference room 34-B. The plans haven't changed since the last update that we had access to."

"Ah." Jesse snorted in matching amusement. Then she paused. Something had just caught her attention. Elenia stopped as Jesse did.

"Jesse?" Elenia asked, looking at Jesse and then around. "What is wrong?"

"I don't know." Jesse said slowly, her eyes and other senses roving. "I just saw something. It wasn't anything I could recognize. Where are we?"

"Not sure." Elenia had a frown in her voice. "We need to get to-" She broke off as Jesse started for a cross corridor. "Jesse..." She groaned.

"Something is wrong." Jesse felt odd. She did scans. Her body was right. Her mind was right. So something _else_ was wrong. She went still as a door opened ahead of her. "Ah, Elenia?" The room beyond was dark.

"Don't go in!" Elenia commanded, a weapon coming to her hand.

"There is not call for that, Caretaker." A soft voice called to them as Jesse recoiled a step. "I just need to talk to Jesse." Jesse went still. She recognized the voice.

"Elenia, it's okay." Jesse said softly as she took a step forward. "Trinity?"

" _Trinity?_ " Elenia exclaimed and then stepped to flank Jesse. Her weapon remained in her hand.

The two female Tenno stepped to the door and stared. Inside was a Zen garden. It was well maintained, the rocky sand that provided solace to Tenno who needed such had not been disturbed in a long time from the lack of tracks or other signs on the sand. One form knelt in the middle of the garden. A Trinity warframe, but transparent, composed of golden energy.

"Hello Jesse." Trinity sounded sad. So very sad. "I didn't mean to bother you, but my own code is distinctive. I should have known you would see it activate the systems here. I needed some time."

"If we are bothering you, we can leave." Jesse said quickly. Trinity shook her head.

"You never bother me, Jesse." Trinity said gently. "The word 'considerate' should have a picture of you beside it in the dictionary. I just thought I needed some time alone. I was wrong."

"Trinity? What?" Elenia asked, confused. She did put her weapon away. It wouldn't do her any good against the shade of a dead Tenno.

"I don't want to be alone right now, Jesse." Trinity said as she rose to her feet. She strode towards the mismatched pair and Jesse went still as she saw sand move under the shade's feet. No indentions, just... something moving. "Yes, Jesse." Trinity said by way of explanation. "I am really here. Or as here as I can be."

"That is not possible, Trinity!" Jesse protested, fear suddenly blossoming. "You are..." She swallowed hard as Trinity nodded.

"A technological ghost." Trinity finished the sentence for her. She held out a hand to Jesse and Jesse slowly laid her hand in the shade's. She felt a connection spark. "I am really here. For the first time in a long, long time. I am home."

"No..." Jesse felt the fear that had been blossoming suddenly take root and spread. "Trinity, you can't! The _Balance_."

The delicate equilibrium between the living and the dead was protected by the Guardians of the Dead and the shades of fallen Tenno, of which Trinity was one. The sheer power that dwelt within the database that held the shades of Orokin dead required some kind of system to keep things from going completely out of whack. But the Tenno were forbidden to simply _leave_ the database as surely as the Orokin shades were.

"The time for Balance has passed, Jesse." Trinity said sadly as she pulled Jesse into an embrace. It didn't feel like a corporeal hug, but it _was_ a hug. "Don't be afraid, Jesse." Trinity pleaded. "No matter what happens, I love you. I always have and I always will. Remember that."

" _Trinity!_ " Jesse screamed as she grabbed for the other, but the shade was gone. "No. Oh god! _No!_ "

"Jesse?" Elenia had her weapon out again, but nothing appeared. Nothing happened. "What?"

Instead of answering, Jesse strode out onto the sand. She wasn't perfectly balanced, her feet left indentions. Elenia followed her, weapon still ready. She did _not_ leave footprints. The Caretaker came to a sudden stop as Jesse saw what she was dreading and fell to her knees before a line of tiny stones.

"Jesse?" Elenia repeated, worry rising.

Instead of answering, Jesse slowly and gently brushed a layer of sand from the tiny flat stone directly in front of her. On it, writing became clear.

Lynn Tenno

Trinity

1979 Gregorian - 235 Orokin

Sister, Healer, Cyberlancer, Friend. You are missed.

Jesse stared at the words and then broke down and cried.

" _Trinity's_ memorial." Elenia breathed. She stared around at the other stones visible all around. She staggered a bit as she saw the writing on each. Hayden. Ash. Nyx. Saryn. Volt. Excalibur. Rhino. A memorial garden. This was the _First Tenno's_ memorial garden! The very first one! Then her eyes went huge as the later date on Trinity's memorial changed as Jesse wept. To _the current date_. Elenia stared around and _all_ of the dates were _changing_.

"Oh _no_..." Horror sounded in the Caretaker's words as she embraced Jesse. From her tone, it was also reverberating through the mind mass she was part of." _No_. We need to tell someone! Anyone!"

"They know." Jesse managed to get out and then bawled like a baby. Or a _daughter_ whose _surrogate mother_ had just passed on.

"They know."

* * *

 **Avalon**

No one expected it. No one had planned for it. After all, no one in their right mind would possibly attempt it. No one who knew about the possibility wouldn't dream of doing it.

Avalon was probably the single most secure facility anywhere in the Solar System. Perhaps the Corpus had a vault that was more secure. Probably not. No Grineer vault even came close. The station called Avalon had originally been a hideaway for Orokin rulers. Perhaps not the greatest of vacations spots. The tiny station hidden within the Sun's stellar corona was not large. It had always been luxurious. Most of the rulers of Orokin had never stinted on their own comfort after all. But the basic idea was for a highly secure location that was nearly impossible to find and _completely_ impossible to get to without specialized help. The stellar corona's average temperature of a million degrees Fahrenheit made that possible.

No one paid the Trinity Prime warframe any mind as she made her way through the tightly packed corridors. Prime warframes were not common, but on Avalon -the sole remaining bastion of Orokin- they far outnumbered the other kind. The Royal Guard, Tenno who had been selected and trained to defend the Orokin rulers- had only used prime warframes for centuries. Now they were using others, to fit in with other Tenno outside of the hidden sanctuary. But this was a prime Trinity. No one paid her a second's notice. After all, Tenno had been the guardians of Orokin and the Royal Guard were well known. If anyone had been in a position to question, they might have seen that her identification was out of date by several centuries. But no one thought to question. No one paid her any mind as she made her way down through the labyrinth of tunnels that had been built originally as servants' passages. Now they were maintenance tunnels.

She made her way through the tunnels, her steps sure. She had a mission and she would carry it out. Nothing else mattered. Only as she approached her goal did anything seem amiss. She paused as she saw the door she had been seeking. Something was wrong. That door was always guarded. She had come ready to disable the two guards. Surprise and speed would have allowed her to get close and take them down without harming them. Just the thought of harming other Tenno made her sick. She would not. Not if she could help it. But something was wrong.

The portal chamber she was approaching hadn't been used recently. Not since a young, distraught Tenno named Sara had taken an unplanned jaunt across the Solar System. That had finally ended well, but it had been touch and go for some time. Sara was recovering, finally. Lis would take far longer, but she _would_ recover. Physically anyway. Emotionally? Spiritually? No one knew.

The doors hissed open and she went still as a familiar voice called out to her.

"I am alone." The Trinity Prime slumped a bit and then shook herself and stepped forward. Indeed, it was as she had feared. Princess Michelle, Heir Apparent of Avalon stood just inside the room, her back to the portal control console. "I came alone. I made the others stay away. Whatever you are doing, Trinity, I cannot let you do it."

"Princess..." Trinity -the First- said weakly. "It must done."

"We _need_ you!" Michelle pleaded. "All of you!"

"And that is why we have to go!" Trinity replied calmly. "We are not gods, Princess. We are no better or worse than any other people." Michelle nodded and Trinity looked around. "Where is Commander Petra?"

"Guarding the access way that leads here." Michelle said quietly. Trinity went still and Michelle shook her head. "I ported down here as soon as I saw you arrive. Jasmina screamed at me as soon as you left Elenia and Jesse. They are both freaking. They saw the stones."

"Yeah." Trinity gave a deep and heartfelt sigh. "I should have set the date change for a longer delay. Jesse has some very sharp eyes. I never planned for her to find out until it was done. We did not plan for anyone to know. Princess. What must be, must be."

"She loves you. This will tear her apart!" Michelle accused. Trinity nodded. "Then tell me why! I was a sister of yours. Please?" She begged.

"The ability to use a warframe does not make you a sister, Michelle." Trinity said kindly. "You followed the Code your entire life until you found another calling. Protocol be damned, you will _always_ be our sister."

"Then tell me _why!_ " Michelle screamed, tears starting to fall. "Why _now?_ "

"There is more going on than anyone knows, Princess." Trinity said softly. "The Balance has been broken. By us. By others. The temptation to use any power is strong. For someone like you or me, the temptation to use such powers to help others is nigh irresistible. The database is too big, Princess. We know this. So do you. You saw it, felt it." Michelle swallowed and nodded. "We cannot keep them from leaving, Princess. Not now." Michelle paled and Trinity nodded. "That leaves us one choice. One that was put down by the First Tenno _and_ the First Orokin Empress."

"You..." Michelle seemed to stagger. "No! Trinity! There are _trillions_ of shades. Tenno and Orokin. You _can't!_ "

"You think I _want_ to, Princess Michelle?" Trinity replied angrily. "I was a Healer! I tried to _save_ lives. Causing pain was the worst thing I ever had to do. But sometimes... in order to heal a wound, one must cause harm first." She bowed her head. "We have debated for centuries of real world time, Princess."

Michelle stared at Trinity, eyes wide. Virtual worlds, such as the database that the Orokin and Tenno shades resided in, ordinarily were set to work in compressed computer time. Years could be spent in a virtual world and when the person came out, minutes would have passed. The reverse was also true, but far, far rarer.

"And _all_ have agreed?" Michelle pleaded.

"No." Trinity allowed. "But we have an absolute majority. Far more than we needed to fulfill Hayden's and Talia's command. Step aside, Princess Michelle."

"I can't do that, Trinity." Michelle said, setting herself. "I am sworn to protect the database."

"You will want to step aside. At least to the other side of the console." Trinity did not move. "The portal is about to activate." Michelle stared at her and then at the console which was lighting up. Michelle jumped over the console, but her hands were close to it. "Do not interfere, Princess Michelle. You _will_ make her mad."

"Who?" Michelle asked and then gave an eep as the portal flared, but the light was white, not golden!

When the light faded, four forms stood on the platform. Three in armor, one not. All four were corporeal. Two warframes. An Excaibur and a Loki. Both Primes. Trinity bowed deeply to the other two. Michelle's eyes were huge as the woman in the golden gown smiled at her. She knew the woman! But it was the man in the warframe that _wasn't one_ who drew her attention and held it. It was sort of like an Excalibur warframe, but _not_. His right hand hung loose and she knew why. To keep his Glaive ready to hand.

"If we had any decent alternatives, we would take them, Princess." Hayden Tenno said as he gave his physical body a shake. "We don't."

"But..." Michelle pleaded as the gowned woman took a step forward and held out a hand to her. "Empress... I..."

"It is all right, Michelle." Talia -the _First_ Empress of Orokin- said kindly.

"It is going to be all right."


	2. Chapter 2

**Realization**

"This is insane."

The only one who apparently could find her tongue when the strange procession trooped into Avalon's audience chamber was the Empress herself.

Avalon had access to many of the records of Orokin, including its founding. All four of the Tenno were known to all and the gowned form was as well. The First Empress of Orokin. No one dared to move. Not the Royal Guard Tenno. Not the curious people who did not even dare to whisper as legends in mortal form walked among them. Not even the tiny Tenno boy who was cradled in his adoptive mother's arms. Everyone was too scared to move. Michelle was subdued, her hand still gripped in Talia the First's.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Talia said sadly as she released Michelle's hand and the princess stood as if frozen. Talia patted the hand she had released and shook her head as she stared around. "You have done so well, my descendants. So very well. But all things have their time and ours is up." Michelle was crying as she shook her head, but Talia would not be denied. "Princess, Empress, Citizens of Avalon, Tenno. If were any other way, we would take it. There is not. The database must be shut down." The room was suddenly and dreadfully silent.

"No." All eyes turned to where a dark haired girl stood, her face ashen. "No! You _can't_! You will kill them _all_!"

"Sara." Hayden Tenno's voice was quiet, but held command. "We are already dead."

"Begging your pardon, First One, but _bullshit_!" Sara snapped as she took two steps forward, despite her adoptive mother's frantic grab at her. Everyone quailed as she stepped forward again to stand between Eliza and the newly come beings. "I may not understand everything, but I _do_ know this. You are not -were not- _gone_." She corrected herself grimly. "Therefore you are _not_ dead."

"Sara!" Jenni hissed from where she stood with her son in her arms. "Get back!"

"You think so little of me, Lady Jenni?" The First Tenno asked sadly. "I am not perfect. I never was. But I do not blame a sister for speaking her mind as Sara well knows from our discussions," Hayden replied evenly and then grinned just a little. "Although her deportment _still_ needs some work." Sara flushed a little, but did not move and he sighed. "This is a difficult decision, Sara. It has taken us literally centuries of debate to come to this moment. We do not want to do this, but we literally have no other choices that bear mentioning. The Balance is broken." A horrified gasp swept the room and he nodded. "The Grineer and the Corpus know of the database, if not _what_ it is, then that it _exists_. They seek it. They know not _what_ they seek, but they do."

"Then we will _stop_ them!" Sara declared. "It is what Tenno _do!_ " Hayden smiled at her, but his smile was wistful.

"Sara." Hayden said gently. "We can't. No one can. There are too many, seeking in too many ways. Not even Tenno can do more than stave off the inevitable. I have been surprised more than a few times over the centuries, but this? No, Sara. There are limits. It cannot be _done_." Sara stared at him and then she crumpled a bit. He stepped forward as she started to cry and took her in his arms, holding her gently. "You do me honor, sister, daughter. But there are no alternatives that bear thinking." He held her as she sobbed. "Sierra agreed."

"I..." Sara was trying to regain her composure and failing. She dashed her tears away, but they kept falling.

"Sara, come here." Talia knelt down and held out her hands. Hayden handed the sobbing girl to the former Empress. She held Sara as the girl cried. "I have got her. Hayden, you need to explain." She motioned to Jenni and the other woman stepped forward, offering support to Sara as well.

"You always take the _easy_ job, eh, Talia?" Hayden asked with a sour laugh. Talia smiled at him, but then focused on Sara, who was crying harder. "We do not have a great deal of time. These forms will not last long."

"First Tenno..." Eliza said quietly. "My duty is as it has always been. To protect the database. To protect Orokin. I cannot abrogate my duty."

"I know." Hayden said with a sigh. "We are not asking you to." Everyone stared at the four legends from the past and Hayden shook his head. "What we ask of you is worse." Eliza stared at him and then paled. "Yes. We ask you to choose."

"No!" Eliza snarled. "You _cannot_ ask that of me! _Me_?" She rose to her feet, her face thunderous. "You ask _me_ to choose?"

"Not alone." Hayden replied evenly. Eliza jerked and then stared at him. She slumped a bit and then sank back onto her throne. Hayden nodded. "If we did not deem it necessary, we would not have acted so precipitously. Empress, the Balance is broken! Two of the Guardians of the Dead have already fallen, never to rise." At that, ever visible face paled and all of the Tenno in warframes went still. "Before they did, however, the shades of Nicholas, Rasputin and several others whose crimes were just as bad were purged."

"Purged?" Eliza swallowed hard and Hayden nodded. "As in, deleted and every remnant formatted." It wasn't a question, but the First Tenno inclined his head in agreement. "They were trying to escape." Again, not a question.

"Sort of." Hayden said with a sigh. "Nicholas wasn't _capable_ of coherent thought and Rasputin was just barely capable." He shook his head. "Nyx is _not_ one to anger." His shudder was not feigned.

"No, she isn't." Talia gave Sara another hug and released her into Jenni's hands. Sara barely noticed. She patted the sobbing girl's head and took a step to stand with Hayden. "We do not want to do this, Empress Eliza. We have no choice. If the database falls into the hands of the Grineer, they will destroy the solar system trying to use it. If it falls into the hands of the Corpus, likewise."

"Or the Sentients." Michelle's quiet voice silenced the hall. Talia and Hayden both nodded to her.

"Yes." Talia said sadly. "My descendants, your kin Empress Eliza, made a number of mistakes." Eliza nodded grimly and Talia continued. "The empire fell as empires do. Throughout human history, it has been a cycle. Civilizations rise and fall. We had hoped to do better." Talia's face was forlorn now. "But we were and are realists as well. I had such hopes. And for a long, long time, they seemed to be achieved." She looked away and Hayden laid a hand on her arm. "In the end, it was no one's fault but mine. I created the database. It was and is all on me."

"Not so." A strong voice had everyone freezing as a pitch black Nekros warframe strode into the room. Nikis was not happy and a number of people made way for him. "Hayden. Talia." He said offhand as he walked to stand between them and Eliza.

"Nikis." Talia said sternly, her face remote. "You are supposed to be asleep." Nikis just crossed his arms and waited. Talia slumped a bit and looked at Hayden who sighed.

"We were trying not to wake you, Nikis." Hayden said sadly. "I am sorry we did."

"You didn't." Nikis replied. " _Jasmina's_ scream reverberated through the mindmass as soona s Elenia and Jesse saw what they did. They are _very_ upset. Almost as upset as I am. I told you to _wait_." Sudden menace rang in the room. The Excalibur, the Loki and the Trinity all moved up to flank Hayden who shook his head.

"We have some time, Nikis." Talia said softly. "But not a lot. The Corpus broke in." At that, Nikis went still and Talia nodded. "They accessed the secure partitions. Joesmin and Gar are dead, Nikis." At that, Nikis staggered and Talia's face softened. "You didn't know."

"I am not... all here yet." Nikis said with a sigh. "Jumped up, ran out before anyone could slow me down."

"Now why does that _not_ surprise me?" Hayden asked with a laugh. "Idiot boy."

"Fraud." Nikis retorted calmly. Everyone in the room winced. Except Sara. She seemed to perk up a bit.

"Faker." Hayden replied in the same tone Nikis used. Sara was still crying, but a smile crept into her face as well.

"Do I need to separate you two?" Talia asked sourly. " _Again?_ " The word 'again' went around the room quietly and Talia snickered at Hayden's betrayed look. Then she sobered. "Nikis, we don't want you hurt. We have lost too many we care about already."

"No one ever said the job was safe, darling." Nikis tone was just shy of disrespectful as he relaxed a bit. Eliza stared from him to Talia and the First Empress of Orokin nodded, her face sour.

"Oh yeah." Talia answered the seated Empress' unspoken question. "I miss the days when he was a kid. I really, really do. He was a _bit_ respectful when he was seven. Not much, but a bit. Now? He talks back just to _do_ it." Nikis gave a sniff, but did not reply. She sighed. "Nikis, please."

The Nekros seemed to think for a long moment and then stepped to one side. No one relaxed though. His hands were not on his pistols. But they were close.

"What happened?" Eliza asked. "All we do its guard this access point. We did not sense anything." Now she and Michelle both looked worried.

"The access came from the Corpus." Talia said quietly. Sara stiffened where she was kneeling. Talia shook her head. "It wasn't the Clergy. The Reverend Mother knows better. Most of the ones who did it did not live long. None of them got away. So, no one can report their success."

"That we know of." Hayden corrected her quietly. Talia grimaced again and then nodded. "We interrogated the survivor and he had no idea what he was doing or why. It wasn't a big project, not a Board Member's direct order. They were researching Orokin tech and found the access, apparently by accident. They investigated. No one else knows."

"Yet." Eliza said quietly. Talia and Hayden both nodded. "But where one probe went..."

"...others will follow." Talia agreed. "The Grineer as well have been trying to access the database. They don't know what it is, just that it is Orokin and denies their probes."

"That was what Jesse got mixed up in." Michelle swallowed hard as Talia nodded again. "But what do you want my mother to choose? And why?"

"The database has been discovered." Talia said quietly. "The access ways that we thought were secure are not. We have to shut it down." She shook her head. "I have accepted my fate. But we can save some of the energy forms in secure partitions of your archives here on Avalon. You have space for some. Not all." Michelle stared from the first Empress to the current one and paled again. Talia nodded as Eliza put her face in her hands. "I am... not ambivalent about this. We need someone who will be."

"I am not _either_." Eliza snapped. "Michael is in there still. I do not want him roaming around _our_ servers." Michelle grimaced. Just remembering her birth father and his treason was rough enough. The thought of him being able to stay when so many others would not... It made her sick and from Eliza's expression, the Empress felt the same way.

"Michael will not be in the running." Hayden promised her. Eliza looked at him and he shook his head. "Neither will most of us." Michelle was shaking her head again and Hayden shrugged. "It got old. We are tired of this half life."

"But if you can't choose..." Michelle pleaded, looking to Talia who shook her head. "How can you make my mother do so?"

"She has the crown." Talia said quietly. "The burdens come with it." All eyes turned to Eliza who slumped a bit, but nodded.

"I never wanted this." Eliza said sadly as she put a hand to her head, touching the crown that was glowing slightly. "I just wanted to live a good life. Then to provide for my daughters. Not this. Never this." Talia nodded soberly.

"And that is what makes you good at it." Talia agreed. "You _didn't_ want it. You _didn't_ covet it. But you also know your duty just as I did." Eliza sighed and nodded. "There is another problem."

"Of _course_ there is." Eliza gave a long suffering groan. "What is it?"

"We are not the only parties involved here." Talia said with a frown. Nikis stiffened and Talia nodded. "Yeah. Them."

"Oh shit."

* * *

 **Far away**

She moved through the darkness as if she was born to it. Well, actually, she had been. Or, 'born' was probably not the right word. Her earliest memories were of pain and fear, anger and fighting. Her form was familiar. It was a human shape. It had two arms, two legs and a head. But there the similarities stopped. Any Tenno would recognize the warframe she wore instantly. A Banshee. But then they would pause. Something wasn't right. The colors was as distinctive as any Tenno. This particular set of armor was mostly green and brown, earth colors. But there was no one to see.

This part of the derelict Orokin space station hadn't been touched in a long, long time. For good reason. During the Sentient War, the Sentient had attacked it once. Only once. They had learned. It had cost them a lot, but they had learned.

She moved forward and paused as a voice came to her senses.

 _You cannot run from your past_

She shook her head and melted into the shadows further. Not that the shadows would help her. Not against him. But she was ready. She tapped controls and a door slid open. The area beyond the door was a far cry from the devastated facility that she had been moving through. It was clean. Bright. Well cared for. But not Orokin. Oh no. Not _here_. Several forms stood to greet her, but she waved a warning and all of them drew weapons. They were warframes, but... not. All shared one physical characteristic. All had a line of red around their upper right arms. The Banshee was joined by an Ember, a Frost, a Rhino, an Excalibur, a Mesa and a Mag. All had weapons ready when Stalker spoke again.

 _Did you think there would be no repercussions?_

All of the warframes had weapons ready now. But the _weapons_... None of them were Orokin designs. All were Tenno designs. Two of them held bows, another an Attica crossbow. The Tigris shotgun that the Rhino held looked like a toy in his hands, but he held it expertly. The Mag held a Soma and the Excalibur a Vectis. All were ready when Stalker spoke for the third time.

 _Your sentence is death!_

The black mist materialized, but that was the only thing that went right for the Tenno boogeyman. Before he could move, several shots blew his shields down. Then arrows slammed him to the floor where he lay writhing.

 _No..._

Stalker stared up at the Banshee as she strode towards him, a Glaive materializing in her hand.

"Well, well, well..." The voice from the Banshee was subtly _wrong._ "It took you long enough. How many clones did I have to slay before you finally deigned to grace us with your presence?" The sibilants were more hissed than spoken.

 _No._ Stalker's voice turned flat. _I told you before and I tell you again. No. I will not help you._

"Ah, idiot Tenno..." The Banshee seemed to melt, or no, it's skin was morphing into something that was distinctly _not_ a Tenno. Stalker stared as the being pulled something from her belt, something that gleamed oddly dark in the bright light of the room. "Who said you had a choice this time?"

 _You do not know what you are doing!_ Stalker hissed and then screamed as she laid the device on his helmet. He convulsed and she stepped back, watching clinically as the metal thing enfolded his skull.

"Oh yes, we do." The pseudo-Banshee chuckled darkly as she watched. She went still as the dark form of the Tenno slayer vanished in a puff of dark smoke. "Damn. Did we get him?"

"We cannot be sure." The voice from the Rhino was the same as the voice from the Banshee! Not male. Not female. Something in between and the sibilants were hissed. "The programming had started. We guess we will need to see. Move on with the next phase?"

"Yes." The fake Banshee, the fake Mag and the fake Excalibur all chorused. The voice from each was exactly the same. The Banshee continued. "But first... Plan 2."

All of them moved into the room and the door sealed behind them. The door... shimmered and then was gone in a puff of golden energy. Behind it, a small device sent out a pulse of energy. Said pulse was not very powerful. But it was not limited by crude electromagnetic wavelengths. What it triggered _was_ powerful. In more ways than one.

* * *

Janet had a bare moment to scream a warning. Then she was jarred in her pool as explosions rocked the Enclave. She saw Natalie and Francis lunging towards her, then her world went black.

* * *

Everything on Avalon stopped as the Lotus screamed. It was not horror. It was pain. Agony. Then she was suddenly and dreadfully silent. The faint rumble of an explosion was anticlimactic.

* * *

"Targets destroyed." The fake Rhino had a smile in its voice as it perused the readouts. "Time."

"Get ready to open the portal." The fake Banshee said with a smile as she moved to a set of oblong things near one wall. Cryo pods. "Time to wake the rest and finally, _finally_ time to show the apes how it is done."

Instead of touching the pod, her helmet slid open. What showed inside was not human. It was scaled. A long forked tongue slid out, tapping keys far more rapidly than most humans could see.

"It is finally time for us to take out rightful place as overlords. Let the Grineer, the Corpus, _and_ the Tenno tremble before our wrath and we shall finally show them who is the _slave_ and who is the _master_."


	3. Chapter 3

**Not gonna lie... bad.**

The instant following the Lotus' scream was a blur of activity as the Tenno reacted. The Royal Guard closed ranks around Michelle and Eliza. Hayden moved to shield Talia and Trinity moved to flank him.

" _Where?_ " Hayden snapped.

"Deck 5, sublevel- ah hell!" Michelle snarled. "Petra!" The Mag Prime who was her chief bodyguard -and the leader of the Royal Guard on Avalon- nodded.

"Lilly, go!" Petra snarled as she and two others moved to protect Michelle. Lilly nodded and her Nova Prime took off at a run. The guard commander looked at Nikis who shook his head. His hands were on his pistols, but he hadn't moved.

"I didn't do that, but I bet I know who did." The Nekros was calm. Too calm. Everything in the room stopped at his next words. "I just heard Janet scream. It cut off. No coincidence. This was an attack. Coordinated. They said they would."

"No." Talia breathed, horrified. "No! Hayden! What... What do we do?" She begged the First Tenno.

"You stay here." Hayden snarled. "Trinity, Loki. Go!" The two named Tenno nodded to him and vanished after Lilly. "Nikis..." The Nekros shook his head, remaining silent. "You know they won't just attack _here_."

"I know." Nikis said softly. He looked at Jenni who paled. She shook her head slowly and Sara stared from Nikis to her.

"Nikis?" Sara asked, confused. "What is happening?"

"Our past is catching up with us." Talia answered for Nikis. "We promised them peace. We promised them protection and we failed them." Nikis shook his head again and Talia sighed. "Nikis, you agreed."

"Hard to argue with everyone, no matter how clueless I thought you all were. I ain't stupid enough to argue with both Nyx _and_ Mag at the same time." Nikis' tone was odd. Not sad. Not angry. Not anything. But menace sang underneath it. "You all wanted _peace_. _They_ wanted time to prepare. Well, they got it. Now the database is vulnerable and they will try for it. You know it. _I_ know it."

"Who?" Eliza demanded. "Who would dare attack the Lotus? And Janet?" Concern rang in her tone before vanishing behind her iron control.

"Not so much who as _what_." Nikis said calmly. "They don't use names." He started towards Jenni who cowered back. Sara blocked his path and he shook his head. "I won't hurt you, Jenni. But she needs to know. Now. Before they act. Which they will sooner rather than later."

"I don't want to." Jenni begged. "I am good here." Her voice was tiny and Sara frowned. "I am happy. Don't make me hurt people. Please?"

"I am not asking you to." Nikis said, holding out a hand to her which Jenni eyed as if it were venomous. "But the Reverend Mother needs to know. Soon. She will have heard the Lotus scream. But she doesn't know what is coming."

"What _is_ coming?" Jenni asked.

"Hell."

* * *

Lilly was fast. Nova Prime warframes generally were. But Loki and Trinity caught up and kept up with her easily. They had obviously modded their warframes for speed. Everyone tried to make way for the trio but they were moving too fast. Indeed, the two other primes and Lilly spent more time on the walls and ceiling than they did on the floor. But they never stopped moving. Finally, they reached a set of blast doors. Lilly move to the control panel as Trinity and Loki both drew weapons. Lilly shook her head as he worked.

"Sensors are reading nothing extraneous in the chamber." The Royal Guard Tenno's words were clipped and precise, professional. "But there is damage, so something was there."

"They were always good at sneaking into places." Trinity held her Vectis easily, but her aim point was the door. Loki did not speak, just held an oddly shaped bow in a professional grip. "And they got good at impersonating Tenno."

"What?" Lilly demanded, her focus shifting from the panel to Trinity who waved at her. She nodded and focused on her work.

"All they had to do was get _one_ biotech nanobot here." Trinity said with a sigh. "Then it hid, laid dormant who knows how long before starting to work." The hatch started to open and she aimed as Lilly's Glaive came to her hand. But what met their eyes had all of them freezing in horror.

The room was not large and it was filled with machinery. It was essentially a server cluster. A network access point for the being who lay half in, half out of a mangled chair. Trinity slung her rifle and darted forward, a scanner in hand.

"T...Tri...Trinity..." The Lotus looked like hell, her mask was burnt and blackened, her bodysuit likewise.

"Don't move." Trinity commanded as she started to work. "You are badly hurt."

"They went for Janet too." The Lotus said weakly. "They... They will go for the database. Probabilities say. They... say..." She gasped and then lay still.

"No!" Trinity snapped as her hands flew and energy pulsed from them, touching parts of the sorely hurt AI/Tenno hybrid. "Not now! Lotus! Stay! That is an _order_ you insubordinate excuse for a Tenno!" The Lotus jerked and then gasped. But a small smile curved her lips. "Better." Trinity growled as she worked.

"Didn't sense..." The Lotus said weakly as Trinity worked.

"Lie there and let me work or I _will_ sedate you." Trinity commanded.

"Yes, Ma'am." The Lotus sighed and relaxed as Trinity scanned her. Finally, the First Trinity nodded and leaned back, her hands gentle as they eased Lotus down to the floor.

"Loki? Find out what happened. Where it was." Trinity asked as she started working on other parts of the Lotus' blasted form. The First Loki nodded and started walking around the room, his gaze sharp, eyeing everything. Lilly stayed at the door, her Glaive still in hand. "She is stable, for now. I want her healed a bit more before we try to move her." Lilly nodded, but did not move otherwise.

"Trinity." The Lotus' voice was weak and filled with pain. "I need to coordinate..."

"If you were human _or_ Tenno, that blast would have killed you, Lotus." Trinity snapped as she continued working. "You are too badly hurt to connect again." She sighed as she sat back on her heels. "Besides, the network accesses are trashed."

"They won't just attack here." The Lotus pleaded, trying to rise. Trinity held her down easily. "Trinity, please!"

"Nikis said he heard Janet scream too." Trinity had a frown in her voice was she held the hurt guide of the Tenno down. "Lotus, you need more help than I can give here. Even _your_ body won't take such punishment and just shrug it off."

"It's my duty, Trinity!" The Lotus begged as Trinity held her down. "I need to help them."

"And when you bleed out after twenty seconds of interfacing?" Trinity demanded, her ire up. "What _then_? You cannot focus on healing _and_ interfacing at the same time."

"She won't." Another voice had all three of the hale Tenno spinning in place. Trinity and Loki had weapons ready, Petra just moments behind them. But the female form who strode into the room was unarmored and unarmed. She carried a number of odd things in her hands. "Hello Lotus."

"Mari?" Trinity, Loki and Lotus all chorused. Trinity and Loki lowered their weapons. Lilly did not.

"Who is this?" Lilly demanded.

"My name is Mari, Tenno Lilly." The woman said as she started laying her burdens down. The largest bit was an odd red colored helmet the same size and shape as the Lotus' but there were other pieces. "As soon as I heard what happened, I knew I had to come." She held up her hands and waited. Trinity scanned her and relaxed, nodding to Loki who returned to his survey of the room. Lilly did not relax. "I can do it."

"No." The Lotus begged as Mari stepped closer. "Mari, no!"

"Lotus." Mari knelt down beside the hurt woman. "I can do it. I know I can. I don't have to hold it long. Just long _enough_ for you to heal. I can do it with the help I have been given."

"Do _what?_ " Lilly demanded.

"Coordinate." Mari said as she lay down slowly. "I hoped never to use this, but the plans were downloaded when the Tenno hit the Tower that kidnapped me. The Tower where I died. Figuring out how to build it right brought me some closure. This should do the rest." She hefted the helmet and stared at it. "I guess now is as good a time as any." The Lotus stared at her. Then the hurt woman smiled and relaxed. But another voice had Mari stiffening and a desolate expression crossed her face before vanishing.

"Um, guys? I was right around the corner. The rest of the area is secure. Medical is on the-" A voice spoke from the door but then broke off. A small dark haired woman stared around the room, her eyes focusing on the woman who lay with the helmet in her hands. " _Mari?_ No..." She breathed, horrified.

"Cecelia." Mari said softly. "I am glad to see you again, even under such horrible circumstances. But this needs to be done."

"No." The young human stepped forward, but Loki blocked her. She stared up at the much larger Tenno and he shook his head. She staggered, then fell to her knees, her eyes streaming. "No! Not _again_! I can't watch you die _again!_ "

"I am not going to die. I won't do that to you." Mari said with a smile that faded as the slammed the helmet down on her head. Cecelia screamed as Mari did, but the woman's cry was there and gone. Then Mari's mouth opened and she spoke. But it was not _her_. "Mariposa online. Network access achieved. Network capacity at 29%, repairing."

" _Mari!_ " Cecelia screamed. She jerked forward, only to freeze as Trinity waved her to. "Mari, please..."

"Mari is here, dear Cecelia." Mariposa said quietly. "This is not a full merge as was forced on her before. It cannot be. She is not as she was. But she was needed, so she came. You are needed as well. We need all of the available records on Program Eos Eighty Four Theta." Cecelia stared from the reclining woman to Trinity who nodded.

"I don't understand." Cecelia said weakly, then moved to the side as a medical team with a gurney bustled in. The checked the still form of the Lotus and with few words, picked her up carefully and carted her off. "Mariposa?" Mariposa did not respond and Cecelia blanched. "I..."

"She is busy, Cecelia. The Lotus is the lynchpin of Tenno in this time." Trinity said gently as she stepped to where the girl was standing, staring at Mariposa, her face forlorn. "She was attacked to allow an enemy to strike with impunity. Mari could not allow that. We need those records." She said sternly.

"She is my mother." Cecelia begged, staring from Mariposa to the blasted and burnt area around them. "Will they attack her? With the Lotus gone... Will they attack her instead?"

"They might." Trinity said with a sigh. Cecelia slumped and the ancient Tenno nodded. "We will ward her, but we need those records, Cecelia. If they managed to get to the Lotus, they may have struck at those as well." Cecelia's face hardened and then the young woman nodded.

"Lilly?" Cecelia asked as she started for the door.

"I will stay with her." The Nova Prime promised. "Petra just ordered me to guard her. I would have anyway. Get the records so we can find out who did this and _hurt_ them."

"We know who probably did it." Trinity said with a sigh. "But _finding_ them to hurt them?"

"That will be much, much harder."

* * *

 **Neptune**

"What word?"

The Reverend Mother of the Corpus Clergy was _not_ in a good mood. Bad enough to be woken from a sound sleep by a scream of pain from someone she had never imagined _being_ in pain. But now this lack of response from any of her sources. It was maddening and frightening in equal measure. Anyone who could attack the Lotus _and_ Oracle Janet at the same time was dangerous beyond belief.

"Nothing on any of the com systems that we have access to." Sister Keiko had slotted nicely into the position of aide. She was very good at a number of things, but none of the Clergy wanted to leave her unattended for long. Her depression was growing despite everyone's assistance. So they had found her a job where she would be around people who cared for her. Who would do everything they could to help her. She and the Reverend Mother were in one of the com rooms at the breeding colony. Every member of the Clergy had heard the Lotus' scream. All of them had heard Oracle's scream through the Reverend Mother. All knew this was bad. "Reverend Mother? If it was an attack, where else could they hit to make the most of the damage they can cause in a short period of time?"

"Any number of places I can think of." The Reverend Mother said grimly. "Whoever it was hit two of the most secure areas I know of. If they can get to _those_ , then even our security here might be hard pressed." Keiko paled. The Clergy breeding colony had _the_ best security that the Corpus boasted. If they were not secure, then no Corpus had a chance. The Reverend Mother forced herself to relax. "That said, it wouldn't be easy for whoever. And it isn't the Ancient Enemy again."

"How do you know?" Keiko asked, working controls.

"The Ancient Enemy has a pattern." The Reverend Mother did not speak the name. The name 'Mezner' was a bad omen to Tenno and the Reverend Mother still thought like a Tenno. But then again, remnants of his DNA _had_ reappeared throughout the ages. Every time it was the same. Nemesis appeared, havoc spread. A Tenno female was called to assume the burden of the Phoenix and the Enemy fell. But the cost was always high for all concerned. "This was different. All we can do for now is fort up and wait."

"And pray." Keiko said softly. The Reverend Mother sighed and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes and pray." The Reverend Mother smiled a bit but them froze as a mind impinged on hers. It...wasn't the Lotus. _What the-?_

 _Emergency Protocols are in effect._ The voice said quietly. _I am Mariposa. The Lotus was attacked and hurt. Have you heard from Oracle?_

 _We cannot trust-_ The Reverend Mother went still as the other gave a series of high level recognition codes. The mouthpiece of the Clergy looked at Keiko who nodded, her face pale. _Status?_ The Clergywoman demanded.

 _Security was breached. The Lotus was badly injured._ Mariposa replied evenly. _No reply from Oracle on any wavelengths. I have stood in the place of the Lotus for the moment. I will stand down when she is capable of resuming the network._

 _Wait._ The Reverend Mother felt faint. _Mari-posa? Mari merged with an AI again?_

 _For now._ Mariposa replied. _I cannot hold it forever, but I can for long enough. I will coordinate as best I can._ Her mind withdrew a bit. _Good luck, Reverend Mother._

 _And to you._ The Reverend Mother's courtesy was automatic. But Mariposa's mind was gone. "Oh... boy."

"You said it." Keiko swallowed hard. "Who the hell would -or _could_ \- attack the Lotus _and_ Oracle at the _same_ time?"

"I don't know." The Reverend Mother admitted. "But whoever it was I bet that was just the opening shots."

She wasn't an oracle, but her words were prophetic.

* * *

 **Mercury Tower**

They had been prepared for an attack. For _anyone_ coming through the gates. It hadn't been so long ago that a strike team of renegade Tenno had breached the gate and stormed into the Tower, destroying all of the defenses that engaged them. But there was a problem with the Orokin tower's defenses. All of them were run by one computer system. Admittedly, the AI in control was remarkably sophisticated. It was top of the line and state of the art for the fallen Orokin Empire. Which made any of the high tech that the Corpus possessed look like children's toys.

Any enemy entering the Tower via any of the known gates would trigger instant alarms and serious firepower would rain down upon them. Even Tenno would have difficulty assaulting such a well defended place, which was the whole idea.

That wasn't the problem.

The _problem_ was that the security systems of the Tower were designed to recognize almost any threat. Key word 'almost'. No one in their wildest dreams could have envisioned what happened. That somehow, a series of nanobots had managed to evade the sensors and access some of the non-critical systems of the tower. They didn't _do_ anything, just observed. Until one day, a particular golden skinned form had walked close enough to the panel behind which they had been secreted. They had not done anything to him either, simply confirmed the control codes for the suit and headpiece he wore. After that, maintaining a link with him was not difficult. Nor was altering his controls, just a little. The main control node was altered, again just a little. Not enough to register on any diagnostic scan. Just enough to allow access for limited changes in his activities. The plan had always been to take the Tower. Now? They had a way to do just that. A time honored way to take a fortress. A traitor.

Luc was complaining in the recesses of his mind and he worked on the control panel that the Tower systems had ordered him to refurbish.

 _Do this, do that._ The former renegade snarled. They hadn't wiped his mind completely. They hadn't wanted to destroy his potential. They had also hoped to rehabilitate him. But he was adamant that he had been following orders, so he had done nothing wrong. Even slaughtering the Marine tanks on Mars had been at his clan leader's orders. While it had bothered him a bit, he hadn't argued. _Go and fix this, Luc. Go and tweak that, slave! Geez! Can't they just get a drone to do this crap?_

He was so caught up in his grousing that he never even realized when the room behind him lit up. He was so focused on his work that he never saw the not-quite-a-Banshee slip up behind him and slap an odd metallic thing onto the back of his head. By the time the pain hit his nervous system it was far, far too late. For him, or for the Tower. He screamed and collapsed as the machine on his head took control. Too late he realized something. The Tower hadn't enslaved him. It had been kind. These? Not so much. He had a bare moment to understand. To realize and regret.

 _I was wrong..._

That was his last thought before his mind was wiped. The pseudo Banshee watched dispassionately as her new slave convulsed and smiled under her helmet.

"We are in."


	4. Chapter 4

**Horror**

Mei ran.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. She had just _arrived_ for goodness sakes. Healer Iriana and the staff of the hospital had all been welcoming. She still wore her warframe, but the hospital's rule of 'no weapons' was one she had taken seriously. Not that she really needed a weapon normally, even in a Trinity warframe. Geared for healing the frame might have been, but it was as all of the others, a living suit of armor that she alone could wear. A weapon in human form despite her wishes to just be a simple medic.

Iriana had just dropped her off for the newly come Tenno's first shift, promising to come by and see how she was doing when all hell had broken loose. The first warning anyone had received was when unprotected humans started dropping. Mei had hit the alarm of course. Nothing had happened. No one came to her screams for help. No one responded when she called over the com. That made no sense at all. But it got worse.

A few scans had shown that everyone in the area was affected by some kind of sedative gas. It wasn't in any of her warframe's databanks and nothing in the ones she had access to. When she tried to query the Tower systems, there hadn't been a response. She had heard a muffled cry in her mind on the way to the tower, but it hadn't repeated and nothing else had happened so she forgot about it in the rush to get acquainted with her new job. But now?

There was an aching silence in her mind. A hole. Until she focused on it, she hadn't noticed it. But now? She did. The Lotus was gone. This was no coincidence. Not the guide of the Lotus _and_ the Tower systems suddenly going silent at the same time. Add to that the gas, which seemed just to have put everyone to sleep and that equaled an attack. But by who? Who would _dare_? Who would be _capable_? She corrected herself grimly. The Corpus, Grineer and Infested would attack if they could find the tower. But they couldn't. Frankly? This wasn't their style. Grineer or Infested would flood the place with clones or biological monstrosities, respectively. Corpus would send swarms of proxies. She had seen none of that.

She had been checking each patient in the ward, making sure none had complications from the gas when a new voice sounded in her mind. Not the Lotus. Another woman. Not one she knew, but the feel was familair. The message was short and to the point.

 _Mei, get_ _out_ _of there!_

Mei had paused for just a moment and then a pair of... She wasn't sure _what_ they were. They looked kind of like warframes. Sort of like a Rhino and Ember. But they were not Tenno even though they carried Tenno style weapons. They had seen her and immediately opened fire. Her frantic evasion had saved her life. The patient she had been tending... hadn't been so lucky. Maybe, if Iriana could get to the man in time, the Healer could do something. Maybe not. Mei had other worries. She was being pursued and she had _no_ idea where she was going.

The good news was that she was far, far faster than any of her pursuers. She had always preferred modifying her warframe for speed rather than durability. She preferred to avoid enemies while setting up attacks of her own. So she left them in her dust.

The bad news? She had seen at least a dozen of the not-Tenno who kept trying to surround her. Her mobility was keeping her ahead of them for now, but that couldn't last. She was unarmed. They were not. She had been hit a few times, but her powers kept her healed. That would only last so long however. She hadn't planned for battle. She didn't have an aura artifact equipped. The one time she had tried Energy Vampire on an enemy it hadn't had any effect. So they were protected somehow. She was running out of power.

The only good news about all of this was that her pursuers seemed just as confused as Mei was about the layout of the place. And while it was unfamiliar, it was an Orokin tower. Before she had become involved with Oracle Janet, she had spent time with Tenno strike teams assaulting some of the forgotten places in the Void. So some of the architecture was familiar. Matter of fact...

Mei paused as she ran into a long, rectangular room. She stared from side to side and an unseen smile curved her lips under her Meridian helmet as she saw the long energy filled tube that ran the length of it. An elevator stood at the far end and a pair of doors were visible on the right side, down a set of stairs. She turned to the right and ran up an incline, taking a sharp left and throwing herself into space. The area was hard to navigate. It hadn't been designed for any normal person to run through. But then again, Mei wasn't a person, she was Tenno. As she had hoped, one of the grates far above the floor was open partway. But it was so far. She shook her head, she had little choice. Sooner or later she would be surrounded. Without the ability to use her powers and with no weapons against foes who were armed, her chances were slim. Add to that, if the Tower systems had been subverted, then any portal would be unusable. She had not brought her ship. She hadn't planned on needing it. She froze as the door she had passed opened again and a horde of _things_ swept out. She swallowed hard. None of them looked like Tenno. All looked _wrong_. A few of them were humanoid in form, but as she watched from her high vantage, some of them were morphing. Shapeshifters of some kind? She had never heard of anything like that. Or, if she had, she didn't remember. Cryo had taken its toll on Mei just as it had taken its toll on most Tenno, the long term effects of being frozen destroying much of the being's memory no matter how well stored.

She was...

Without warning, Mei was catapulted from her vantage point. A dim part of her mind saw one of the forms below lowering a Vectis. She had been so fixated on the others that she hadn't seen the sniper scanning the area. Mei fell. She scrabbled for the edge, but another shot hit her and she was falling. Tenno in warframes had a great advantage when falling. Their energy could be used in a number of different ways to slow the descent or to dampen the impact with whatever surface they hit. But that presumed that there were no enemies tracking said Tenno as he or she fell. Mei felt multiple impacts, pain erupting as her armor was breached. She snarled and focused, trying to alter her descent, but it was no use. A closer range blast threw her to the side. She landed on her feet on top of the tube filled with energy, but she was surrounded by the things. At least two dozen of them. She didn't bother to talk. As the armed ones took aim, she threw herself into the area between the energy tube and the railing. The area below was dark and filled with machinery that she did not recognize. But if it was the choice between maybe dying by her own hand or letting these odd beings kill her, she would take her chances elsewhere.

She startled them. That was the only explanation why half a dozen weapons missed as she threw herself into the blackness. She was about to exult when another stunning impact drove consciousness from her. She never felt the impact when she hit the first pipe. It was a mercy that she didn't feel the other dozen things she hit before striking bottom.

* * *

"Pity." The Vectis armed infiltrator shook it's head as it stared down into the pit. "That one was strong. It would have made a good slave."

None of the others replied and the mass of beings who had joined the pursuit of the fleeing Trinity broke up. They had much to do and not a lot of time.

"Tower systems." The sniper said quietly. "I want to know how far down the thing fell. Can we recover the warframe?" The materials would be useful when recycled. The biomass likewise. The mind within was useless and would be discarded if it could not be enslaved.

A burst of static answered the query and the sniper sighed and pressed a control. A metallic scream sounded and then a voice.

-Negative.- That was all the voice said and the sniper paused, it's hand halfway back to the control.

"Why not?" The sniper demanded as two others turned back to listen.

-Unable to comply- The machine sounded reluctant.

"The Healer still resisting." One of the others said quietly. "Even clamped into a converter, she is resisting. She is telling the systems to resist as well."

"Fine." The sniper pressed the control and held it down, listening to the scream that came from the speaker. "We need the Healer. We need her codes and her knowledge. The rest? Convert them all." It shook its head. "Get one of our slaves to check the area below. If we can find the warframe, we can recycle it even if it is in pieces." Both of the others nodded and a golden skinned form approached. It stood stiffly, awaiting instructions. The sniper looked into the pit and nodded. "Find the warframe and bring it back for recycling."

It picked up the slave and tossed it into the chasm. The corrupted mech did not even have the volition to scream. Then the sniper turned and left the area. They had much to do and little time.

* * *

Mei woke with a scream that she strangled with the skill of long practice. Loud Tenno usually did not live very long in the field. She jerked and stared around. She was lying on some kind of platform. A tiny thing that hung over the depths of blackness that arched all around her. She took stock. She was alive but her warframe was battered. Pain flared as she tried to move and she stared down at the piece of metal that extruded from her left leg. The warframe had kept her alive but it hadn't been able to stop the sharp end of the pipe from skewering her. Armor was all well and good, but even warframe armor had limits. A sharp enough object driven -or impacted- at high enough speed could penetrate. And it had, pinning her leg in place. That meant she was stuck. She tried to focus, to pull herself off the pipe, but she could not. As strong as she was in the warframe, she had no leverage.

 _Lotus!_ Mei called, pleading. But it wasn't the Lotus that replied!

 _Mei!_ The unknown woman who had warned her came over the com. Her voice was kind. Soothing and gentle. Despite her fear and pain, Mei felt herself relax a little. _How bad is it?_

 _I am alive, but I am stuck._ Mei said with a grunt as she tried to pull herself off again. _Who are you?_

 _The Lotus is incapacitated for a time. I am Mariposa and I am her surrogate for a bit._ The other replied. _What happened?_

 _Couldn't get away._ Mei said with a sigh. _Tried to run, tried to hide. I was hit and fell into a chasm. I am not at the bottom, but I hit a pipe and it penetrated my leg armor. I am stuck._

 _Do they know where you are?_ Mariposa's voice was taut with worry now and Mei could relate.

 _I don't-_ Mei broke off as a golden form came into her view. It was floating on some kind of antigravity field. _Oh crap._ Then she relaxed. It was one of the Tower's mechs. _One of the Tower mechs just found me._

 _Probabilities say they are all likely subverted._ Mariposa said quickly. _Play dead!_

Mei did not argue. She remained limp as the mech scrutinized her. The mech hovered closer, it's hands grabbing for Mei. Despite everything she could do, a scream tore from her throat as it yanked her free of the pipe. It looked at her and a beam of energy played from its face. She squirmed, trying to avoid it, but it hit her and she quailed as her warframe suddenly _powered down_.

 _That isn't possible!_ Mei screamed into the darkness she was consigned into as _all_ of her senses failed. Total darkness. Total silence. For a long, terrible moment, there was no response. Then Mariposa's voice sounded like thunder in the stricken Tenno's mind.

 _Mei, listen to me. You are only going to have one shot at this._ Mariposa's mind was distant, but there and Mei grasped it with all of her might. _Can you open your faceplate?_

 _I don't..._ Mei felt madness start to seep in, but she squashed it ruthlessly. _I don't know._

She forced her brain to move in a neural sequence that every young Tenno learned. Emergency override. She waited an eternity and then a click sounded. She fought back a gasp as light seared across her eyes. She was flying. No, she was being _carried_. She lay still in the golden arms as the dark walls flashed past. Then light beckoned. She forced her mouth to remain closed as the mech jolted to a landing and then started off, every step agony to her hurt leg.

 _What do I do?_ Mei begged as the mech continued. She could see a bit around her. The Tower was still. No noise. No nothing. It was as creepy as any of the abandoned Orokin towers. She halfway expected... Mei coudl not restrain a gasp as she saw a human woman lying on the floor nearby. She recognized the woman Pat. One of the medics in charge of the hospital. But a silver thing was enclosing the woman's face as Mei watched. Her eyes flicked her and there. She was alive! She was paralyzed or something.

 _Mei!_ Mariposa snapped as Mei tried to struggle to no avail. Her warframe was an inert mass of metal. A biotech straightjacket. _If they realize you are alive, they will kill or convert you. Your only chance is to hide._

 _They have the Tower._ The immobile Trinity pleaded. _What can_ _ **I**_ _do?_

 _They have the Tower._ Mariposa said quietly. _But they do not have_ _ **you**_ _. We will need real time intelligence inside the tower. So, you need to get away from them in a way that they think you are gone._

 _And how am I supposed to do_ _ **that?**_ Mei demanded with a mental snarl. _I can't move!_

 _I know._ Mariposa's voice soothed Mei's fear. _It will be dangerous These things are just as dangerous as Tenno if not more so. Most Tenno have honor. These do not._

 _What_ _ **are**_ _they?_ Mei asked as she saw a group of the things carrying still human forms. One of them looked at her, but did nothing else as it carried the unconscious human to where a line of them lay. Another of the odd forms was placing small silver blobs on each human's head. Mei tried not to gag as each blob grew to encompass a human's head. Man, woman, child, injured, hale, it made no difference. Each was treated the same.

 _They call themselves 'The Forgotten'._ Mariposa said softly. _And they were. They kept to themselves until they felt they had a decent time to strike. Their first attack critically injured the Lotus and may have cost us Oracle Janet. We do not know._

 _Why are they doing this?_ Mei begged as a door head opened. She quailed as she saw a recycler open wide. Wide enough to receive her warframe and all.

 _History later. Get ready, Mei._ Mariposa said firmly. _To your left, low down. A panel. Is it open?_ Mei looked and yes, the panel was there. Behind it, a small tunnel gaped.

 _Yes._ Mei replied, steeling herself as energy started to coruscate inside the recycler.

 _The recycler has a tray on which the mech will lay you. As soon as it does, you need to exit the frame and get into the duct._ Mariposa instructed. _It will be narrow, but you should be able to fit._

 _But... the mech..._ Mei protested as she started the unsealing sequence. _It will see me._

 _The mech was ordered to recover your warframe and recycle it._ Mariposa said softly. _Nothing was said about the occupant. The Tower systems are still fighting the control, but they are losing ground. The systems will delay the recycler dumping the warframe in, but it can only do so for a few seconds, be ready!_

 _I am ready._ Mei swallowed hard as she finalized the commands and her warframe opened down the back. The mech set her warframe down on its face and she slid out of it. She rolled away, arms up in a warding gesture, but the mech just stood back, eyeing the warframe as it plunged into the recycler. Mei gasped as pain fared across her neural link. She hadn't know that would happen. She shook herself firmly and slid into the duct. She glanced behind her and stared as the mech turned and left the room without even looking at her. _Slick._

 _We do not have lot of time, Mei._ Mariposa said sternly. _Follow that duct three junctions and then turn left. The access ways should all be open._

 _Where am I going?_ Mei asked. _And does Karl know about this?_

Remembering Karl always warmed her heart He was so many things. A peerless warrior and paragon of honor. A legend in so many ways. Her cheeks burned as she remembered other things, but now was not the time.

 _In reverse order, yes Karl knows about this and he is_ _ **very**_ _unhappy._ Mariposa's tone conveyed worry. _And..._

 _You are going back in time._


	5. Chapter 5

**Trapped**

 _Back in time? That is insane!_

There was no reply from whoever Mariposa was. Mei was alternating a stooped walk and crawling through the ducts. None of them were large enough for a person to stand. Which was good. She had managed once to get past a half closed hatch, but she despaired if she encountered one that was sealed. She had no hacking equipment, no way of cutting through-

"Hsst."

Mei froze in place as a hiss came from the shadows of a tiny duct that crossed her path. She stared at the duct, but she couldn't see anything in it. Nothing human size could have possibly fit in it though. She edged to the far wall and went totally still as a voice came from the darkness inside the duct.

"We don't have a lot of time." The voice was male. Or... sort of. It sounded... off. "You are Mei." It wasn't a question.

"Who are you?" Mei demanded, her hands up in a warding gesture. If this was one of the shapeshifters...

"My name is Matril." The voice said quietly. "Quick. How did you trip Karl into bed?" Mei jerked and shook her head. "Look, we don't have time to chase our tails. Answer the freaking question!"

"How do I know you are not one of _them_?" Mei demanded. "A shapeshifter could..." Her words trailed off as a small furred form stepped into the light at the end of the duct. It was a calico cat. Or...something that _looked_ like a calico cat.

"Because according to the limited intel I have developed since Iriana's scream woke me up..." The cat said as if it were perfectly reasonable for a _cat_ to be speaking. "They cannot shift their shapes into anything my size. They have too much mass. They have to keep their shapes vaguely human sized."

"You are talking." Mei felt faint, but the cat just smiled as only a cat could.

"And _you_ are mistress of the _obvious_." The cat had plenty of snark it seemed. "Answer the question or I vanish and leave you to fend for yourself."

"I got him drunk." Mei said quietly. The cat looked at her and she blushed a bit. "I did."

"Okay." The cat jumped out of the tiny duct and walked up to Mei who stood frozen as he brushed up against her leg. "We have problems. They have the tower, but it is trying to keep some of its parts free. They got Healer Iriana."

"No." Mei breathed, horrified. "What will they do to her?" The cat shook his head.

"I don't know. Nothing good. We can't help her, not just the two of us." He said reasonably. "There are a lot of these 'Forgotten' things. I have counted three dozen. But they keep arriving. Not sure from where, haven't been able to see the portal controls."

"What can we do?" Mei begged, feeling her fear start to rise. She fought it back. This was bad, no question. But she was Tenno. She would not surrender.

"Come on." Matril started off down the larger duct. "We need to get somewhere that they cannot scan us when they finally do get the tower under their control completely."

"Do you have any idea what they are or why they are doing this?" Mei asked as she followed, trying to ignore the oddity of following a cat.

"No." Matril's voice was angry now. "Woke up hearing Iriana scream and ran for the ducts. Couldn't do anything else. Not against a bunch of things with guns." Now sorrow overlaid his tone.

"Me neither." Mei sighed. "No weapons, so I just ran. Did Mariposa contact you?"

"Who?" Matril paused, turning to stare at the Tenno who flushed a bit.

"I don't know for sure." Mei admitted. "She told me to flee, just in time. She was on the same wavelength as the Lotus, but she isn't the Lotus. Mariposas are flowers just like lotuses. I think." She shrugged. "She helped."

"Don't know her." Matril's voice was flat. "Can't trust her." Mei bristled a bit and the cat shook his head. "Look, as far as you know it could have been one of those 'Forgotten' things."

"So how do _you_ know what they are called?" Mei demanded, stopping short. Matril turned to look at her. "I didn't until she told me."

"I looked them up while I had database access. Not a lot there, but what _is_ there is terrifying." Matril snapped. "We do not have time to debate here. The Tenno will launch an assault sooner rather than later, and if these things are _half_ as smart as I think they are, the Tenno will walk right into a trap designed to stop them." Mei stared at him and the cat snarled. "Don't tell me Tenno are invincible. I _know_ better."

"We are not." Mei replied, suddenly scared. But not by the gloom of the duct. If Karl and his people attacked, and these things were ready for them... "Come on." She started off, moving faster. Matril shook his head and loped ahead of her. "How far?"

"Not sure." Matril replied. "I was checking the ducts for the Healer. I can go places that humans and drones cannot. But this place is huge. Hundred of levels. This is one of the oldest though."

"She said I had to go back in time." Mei mused. Matril stared at her and she smiled a bit wistfully. "I didn't think she meant actual time travel. Even if that is possible, which I do not know if it is or not, it is forbidden."

"Well good." Matril grunted. "What little I know about the idea makes me want to barf. Too much math and way too many bad outcomes if anything goes wrong."

"True." Mei ducked to avoid a low hanging pipe and continued. "So, go to the oldest section of the Tower and do... what?"

"The records for this section are ancient and hard to decipher even for linguists." Matril sounded uneasy now and Mei could not blame him. "Of which I am not one. I have some files on the structure and..." He broke off as Mei stopped. She didn't have a choice. The cat stared at why she had stopped. "Oh boy."

The door ahead of them was not large. It _was_ sturdy. Just looking at it, the architecture was ancient. It didn't look quite like the surrounding area. It also hadn't been opened in a long, long time as was seen by the deep rust that pitted the molding around it.

"I am betting that this is where we were supposed to go." Mei said a bit weakly. "But..." There was no locking mechanism. No keypad. No way to open it. "How do we get in?"

"Any writing anywhere?" Matril was examining the parts of the door he could reach carefully. "I don't see or sense any mechanisms."

"No." Mei said after a moment of searching. "Why build a door in a duct anyway? These are for maintenance transit, right?"

"Some of them are." Matril said fiercely. "Not all. There are all kinds of tunnels throughout this place. Some for fluids, some for wastes. Some of air. The one we have been in was for air, but... not used recently. None of the fans I found were functioning."

"Good." Mei said with feeling. "Didn't relish the thought of having to jump through such a thing without a warframe." Matril smiled at her and she smiled back. But then she frowned. "A door is meant to control access to an area. So...whatever is here was not meant to accessed."

"At least not under normal circumstances." Matril agreed. "But almost any door has some kind of override. I don't see anything." Mei nodded, but her eyes were speculative as she stared at the door. "What?"

"That crack." Mei pointed to the left side of the door. "Does that look rusted to you?" Matril leaned forward and shook his head.

"Not rusted, no." Matril extended a paw and claws came out. "Let me..." He gave a screech as Mei batted him to the side. Just in time. Both stared as a beam of energy played across where the cat had been. A faint smell of scorched fur was detected.

"Are you all right?" Mei begged the cat who nodded.

"Just singed." He showed her his paw which had a blackened piece of fur. He started licking it. "Thanks."

"Something hidden _and_ well defended." Mei shook her head. "Any attempt to force it will trigger the defenses." She shook her head. "We are stuck." Just as she said that, a rumble sounded and both jumped back as the door opened. "What the hell?"

"I didn't do anything." Matril said slowly. " _You_ didn't do anything..."

"Actually she did." A new voice spoke. Mei knew the voice. She stared into the room and a holo of a woman in a full face mask stood. She was smiling. It was not the Lotus, but the garb was similar if of different colors. "The code to open the door is 'We are stuck'."

"You are kidding me!" Mei and Matril both exclaimed as one.

"When this place was built, the people building it wanted something simple and easy to remember." The holo said calmly. "I am Mariposa, I stand for the Lotus while she is injured. She will not be out of action for long but we do not have a lot of time."

"What is happening?" Mei demanded as Matril stepped forward, carefully scouting the small room. It had a bed and a desk with a terminal. A wall dispenser showed food and drink available. Nothing else. The cat jumped up on the bed, kneaded it for a moment and then jumped to the chair. He stared at the terminal and then at Mei. "What?"

"This place has full access." Matril said slowly. "This is..." He shook his head. "This cannot be..."

"This is where the supervisor lived when the tower was under construction." Mariposa said calmly. "Yes, it has access to everything the Tower has built. But you must move quickly. You must take the systems offline."

"What?" Mei demanded. "Why?"

"Because the Forgotten will have full control in a few minutes." Mariposa was still calm. "And when they do, they can either shift the Tower's entrance somewhere else or fortify to the point that any conceivable assault is suicide. Even for Tenno." The masked woman shook her head. "We cannot stop them. We can only slow them down."

"But... without the Tower systems..." Mei said softly. "The inhabitants will die." All of the hospital staff. All of the patients. "The systems control life support." Matril coughed and she looked at the cat. "What?"

"This access can do that." Matril said with an odd look on his face as he scrutinized Mariposa. "But to do that, she has to join, doesn't she?"

"Join?" Mei demanded. Mariposa's visible face was sad now.

"Mei, it is the only way." Mariposa said sadly. "If they gain access to the full Tower, everyone here is doomed. You don't know what they will do. They will make more of themselves using the raw materials of the people here." Mei felt all of the blood drain from her face and Matril went stiff, his fur standing on end. "They will break Iriana and use her. If they gain this place as a secure base of operations, they can and _will_ use it. It is conceivable that they could conquer everything in that case. We _cannot_ let them do so."

"You are asking me to die." Mei said slowly. Mariposa nodded. "One life for many."

"I will do it." Matril said firmly, but Mei shook her head. "I _will!_ "

"You are good, Matril." Mei said softly as she moved to the chair. "But your physical form cannot handle the stresses. I know about such things. I wanted... to be a doctor."

"Don't do this." Matril begged. "We don't know her!" Mei reached down to the cat in the chair and scratched behind his ears.

"Matril, do you want these monsters to win?" Mei asked kindly as she picked him up. Matril stared at her and shook his head silently. She gave him a pet and then laid him on the bed. "What do I do?" Matril shook himself, but slunk down on all fours to watch.

"We don't know if it will kill you or not, Mei." Mariposa said quietly. "This system hasn't been used since well before the collapse and never with a Tenno." Mei just looked at her and Mariposa slumped. "But it probably will. Sit down." She waved a transparent hand to the chair. Mei sat without comment. "There is a power switch on the right armrest. Turn it on and the interface will do the rest."

"All right." Mei nodded and touched the switch. Then she paused and looked at Matril. "Please tell Karl... I didn't love him. But I did. His heart was not for me. I wish it had been, but it was not to be. Tell him, from me, 'Honor is satisfied'."

"I will." Matril sounded a bit husky, but his eyes were clear.

"Thank you." Mei smiled a bit forlornly. "Try to save Iriana if you can. If not, make it quick." The cat nodded.

She pushed the switch.

* * *

None of the Forgotten had any idea what was happening. All of them reacted on instinct, readying for battle, as the lights of the Tower flickered. _All_ of them.

"Tower systems!" One of them demanded as it worked to secure the last of the slaves. "What is happening?" There was no reply. He -it wasn't really a male, but it copied one generally- called the team in the computer core. "What is happening?"

"We don't know!" Came an aggravated response. "The Tower is not responding to anything. Not our overrides. Not our controls. Nothing. We have control of the area, but not the systems. It is as if it went into a reboot."

"That is not possible." Two other voices chimed in. The Tower systems controlled everything. From the air to the reactors to the gravity to the waste reclamation systems.

"I know." The irate response came. "If it _had_ , we would all be dead of asphyxiation or blown to atoms. Since that hasn't happened, I have no idea what is happening or why. We are still in control, but it is local only."

"Any sign of intruders?" The first speaker demanded. A chorus of negatives came back. "Good. We will shore up the defenses, set the defenses to local control only. That means we need attendants at each entry and exit. We have enough personnel, but we will need more. I will begin the changes."

The com clicked off as he strode to where a line of still forms lay by one wall. He shook his head and turned to another room.

"Healer..." His voice was low and mocking. "Time to rise and shine and serve your maste- Urk!"

The triangular shaped mono-molecular edged blade went right through the neck of his form. That wouldn't _kill_ him. He was a shapeshifter after all. But it did deny him his voice for a moment and that was a moment too _long_. A sharp crack sounded and he was pinned to the wall staring at... the dark forms with visored helmets that stood just inside the room. One held a Grineer submachine gun in a professional grip. The other a pair of pistols. The darker form in red and black armor that was gathering the still form of Healer Iriana up in strangely gentle arms. The helmet of the red and black form was silver, like some of the slaves. But none of the rest of it was. All of the other slaves were being encased from head to foot. Iriana lay in the dark warframe's arms, her own skull encased by the converting device. She had been fighting it, but she was weakening, it was spreading down her neck.

"You _things_ just made a _serious_ mistake." The voice from the dark warframe was awful. Pain and fear and horror all mixed with rage. "Set it!"

The soldier or whatever it was with the submachine gun nodded and bent down. The Forgotten warrior quailed as he saw a small device start to glow. The readout on it was counting down.

"Oh don't worry." Stalker said with a snarl. "That will only take out the _room_. I know the others will feel you die and I want the rest of them to suffer." His laugh chilled the room as a golden archway appeared behind him. Both soldiers moved through it. "And I want you _scum_ to remember. _You_ started this. _We_ will _end_ it."

Something pounded on the door as Stalker stepped backwards into the archway and it vanished. But the stricken shapeshifter could only watch as the countdown reached zero.

The bomb was small. It only blew the room to atoms. But shrapnel killed three more of the shapeshifters as they breached the door.

* * *

Iriana woke with a scream.

"Easy, Ma'am." A soft female voice came from the side and Iriana turned her eyes to it. But she couldn't see! She felt metal all over her skull. "We are trying to get it off. I don't know if we can."

"Another trick." Iriana slumped. "I won't help you. I won't."

"Healer Iriana, it is all right." A hand found hers and it didn't feel like one of the shapeshifter's hands. "We got you out. They wanted you alive to serve. To use."

"Liars." Iriana said weakly as fatigue soared up to claim her.

"We are not lying, Ma'am." The other said quietly. "And we will prove it."

* * *

"Sir."

The medic did not want to say. But the subject of her word nodded and she was sworn to his service just like the two guards behind him.

"Speak."

"It is growing." The medic said softly. "I slowed it, but I can't stop it. I stopped it for you, but it was on your _armor_. This has intricately merged with her _flesh_. I do not know if _anything_ can stop it." She bowed her head, waiting. "I failed."

"You did not fail, Medic Wilmi." The dark apparition who had demanded her oath of silence before showing himself to her said quietly. She had known him of course. But not as he truly was. Now? She was trapped. He was just as devoted to justice as ever. More than any of the Arbiters of Hexis had even guessed. "If you cannot fix it, we will find someone who _can_."

"I, Arbiter Kat, this is... beyond my ability." She slumped a bit, but his hand on her shoulder was gentle. "It may be beyond anyone's."

"It may be." Stalker said quietly. "But we have to try. I don't matter. She _does_. They took her because she can probably figure out a way to stop this. So..."

"We need _her_ to help us."


	6. Chapter 6

**Waking to dream**

She was awake. Which was odd. She shouldn't be. Her last coherent memory was of shadowy forms who had come out of nowhere to knock her down, bind her and put something on her skull that burned like fire. Her memories...got bad after that. Pain. Fear. Screams of agony, both hers and other people's. Words that seeped into her brain despite her resistance. She had fought of course. She might not be a Warrior, but she was Tenno. The voices had promised love, pleasure, riches, all the usual stuff. Then the pain had come. But now? All of that was gone. She stared around wildly, nothing was wrong. But _everything_ was.

She lay on a bed that was both familiar and not. She was sure she had never seen it before, but it felt...right. The room was small, but comfortable. It also wasn't someplace she knew. But it felt so familiar. She was confused. But not afraid. For some reason, she was not afraid. She should be, after what had happened, but she wasn't. She shook her head, bemused.

"Miss Iriana?" A somewhat timid voice called from the side and Iriana turned to see a human woman looking at her. The woman wore a dark blue bodysuit and had a familiar emblem on her right shoulder. Arbiters of Hexis. Her other shoulder bore the symbol of a medical professional. "My name is Wilmi, I am detailed to help you."

"Where am I?" Iriana demanded, not moving.

"You are not awake. This is a virtual environment set up so that we could talk." The woman said quietly. Iriana went still and Wilmi continued. "At the moment, physically you are in a secure safe house we maintain for agents on the run. It was the closest place we could get to with a full medical setup. You..." The human would not meet Iriana's eyes. "You were a mess. You _are_ a mess."

"This is a trick." Iriana snapped. "They were trying to break me. You still _are!_ "

"I do not blame you for thinking that, Ma'am." The woman said with a sigh. "All I can do is try to explain. We need your help to treat you." Iriana stiffened. That hadn't been part of the whole programming deal that she remembered. Wilmi nodded. "There is something covering your head. It is metal, but nothing I have ever seen before. It is growing. I think it will grow to cover your body. If that happens, I do not know what will happen, but it won't be good."

"I can't trust you." Iriana snapped. "There is no way I can trust you."

"I know." Wilmi said sadly. "But I have to try to help you. I am sworn to do so." Iriana stiffened.

"Sworn to who?" The Healer demanded. Wilmi did not speak and Iriana shook her head. "You ask for trust and do not give it? That won't work."

"We cannot say, healer." Wilmi said sadly. "We swore oaths of silence when we were asked to help rescue you. We volunteered of course. It is no less than you would have done. Our lives are forfeit, but we succeeded. You are free of the Forgotten if not of their evil."

"Whoa!" Iriana said sharply. "Your _lives_ are forfeit? _Why?_ "

"In order for us to do what had to be done..." Wilmi would not meet Iriana's eyes. "We had to be told things that were secret. We had to go places and do things that were secret. These secrets are secret for a reason. We were told that it would be that way. We _did_ volunteer, even knowing our fates."

"How many of you?" Iriana asked, stunned.

"Three." Wilmi's eyes were puffy and red as she looked at Iriana, but she met the Healer's gaze firmly. "I do not want to die. But if my death can save more lives, then it is worth it."

"That is not right." Iriana said slowly. "How old are you?" Wilmi did not respond and Iriana rose from the bed to stand on wobbly feet. "Girl... How old are you?" Wilmi did not speak and she looked away. Iriana stepped to the woman and took her arm in a grip that was a hair too tight to be gentle. "Girl."

"I am an Arbiter." Wilmi said quietly. "Nothing else matters. Justice will be done." Iriana stared at her and then at the room.

"A virtual simulation." Iriana said as she dropped the woman's arm. "How long?"

"We rescued you five hours ago." Wilmi said softly, still not meeting Iriana's eyes. "You have not woken. That is probably a mercy. The...covering seems to have taken control of your nerves that control breathing, sight, hearing and taste. But it has not taken complete control." She said quickly as Iriana recoiled.

"Yet." The Healer said softly as memory came. "Did anyone else make it out? Kori and Amelia ran for the portal. I don't know if they made it or not." The gas had taken everyone by surprise, but Kori was in her warframe and Amelia had possessed time to get a filter mask on. No time to do much more, mind you. And no one was prepared for the drones to simply stop working. For the defenses to power down. For so many nightmarish forms to appear out of nowhere.

"I was not told." Wilmi said softly. "I was here, waiting with the gear ready when they brought you in. I have never seen anything like it. It is awful." Her words rang false to Iriana who turned to stare at her. The woman flushed and shook her head.

"What aren't you telling me?" Iriana demanded. "Why are you lying to me?"

"I am not lying to you." Wilmi said simply. "I cannot speak of some things. I am sworn not to. But I have not lied to you. I am here to help. If you want to hurt me or kill me to prove that I am not your enemy..." Iriana went still as the woman knelt. "Then do so."

"Be glad I am not a Warrior." Iriana snapped as she moved to the wall, examining it. It was unadorned except for a small poster of... Iriana went still. It was a picture of her and Mishka! Her eyes narrowed. The picture had been taken when Mishka was eight. It had been a special occasion, Mishka's first choice to follow her mother's path in learning the ways of the Tenno. Not all children born to Tenno parents _did_. Not all _could_. She turned back to Wilmi but the woman hadn't moved. "So... How _is_ Kat these days?" She asked offhand. Wilmi jerked, but did not move. "You are _not_ inspiring trust if you work with _Stalker_ , girl."

A sigh came from nowhere and Iriana did not react as a human form appeared on the other side of the room. He was not wearing his red and black armor. He _was_ wearing a disgusted look.

"You just made me break my word to Janet, Iriana." The being she had known as Katsler said quietly. "I promised her you would never see me again." Iriana just glared at him and he sighed deeper. "Medic Wilmi, go." The human rose, bowed to the newcomer and vanished. He shook his head and his face split in a rueful grin. "You are _still_ a pain in the butt, Iriana."

"So, you snatched me." Iriana said softly. The other nodded. "Why?"

"To save your life." Stalker replied evenly.

" _Why?_ " Iriana demanded angrily. "Haven't you done _enough_ to me already?" Stalker opened his mouth, but she cut him off. "And _don't_ preach to me about _honor_ or doing the _right thing_. You wouldn't know honor _or_ the right thing if either of them _bit_ you! You left me to raise Mishka _alone!_ " Her voice was heading towards the 'shrill' range, but she couldn't have cared less. "You kill my friends! You lousy, good for nothing, lying..."A stream of invective that would not have been out of place in a dirty back alley bar streamed from her. It took her several minutes of swearing to calm even a little. He waited until her rant was winding down before speaking again.

"They got me too." Stalker's voice was still quiet and Iriana froze. That hadn't been on her list of possible responses. "They contacted me. Said they could use me. I told them 'No'. That I worked alone. So they trapped me and they put one of those silver blobs on my head. It hurt like hell."

"Yeah." Iriana said, manifestly against her will. "It did."

"It is some kind of enslavement device, Iriana." Stalker's voice was still quiet, but underneath lay a rage as deep as space. "Like nothing I have ever seen. Not even Sentient tech could work so fast through a warframe." At that, Iriana went still and Stalker nodded. "Wilmi managed to stop the device from enslaving me. But she cannot remove it."

"And me?" Iriana asked, her voice tiny.

"I don't know." Stalker admitted. "But I had to try. As soon as I heard the Lotus scream, I knew they were going for the Tower. I knew I had to do something. I was too late. I got there after they cut the systems out of the loop, after they released the gas. I saw them take you, put the thing on you. I heard you scream and... something inside me broke."

"You cannot expect me to believe that you still love me!" Iriana snapped. "That you ever _did_! It was a lie! A trick! A..." Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as Stalker stepped forward and took her in his arms. She froze, but he just held her.

"It wasn't a lie, Iriana." Stalker said sadly. "Part of me wishes it _had_ been. It would hurt less if it had been a lie. If it had just been my duplicity." He hugged her gently and released her to stand there, looking dumbfounded. "But you know what? The rest of me couldn't care _less_." He smiled at her expression. "You were my other half. My _good_ half. Do you _really_ think I would leave you to die or be turned into one of those foul things?"

"You never helped before!" Iriana protested.

"I am not..." Stalker sighed deeply and stepped back to the wall. "I am not a good man, Iriana. Nor am I omniscient. As far as I _knew_ , you and Mishka were safe back at the colony. Until I saw you at Mercury with that golden prosthesis, I didn't _know_ you had been promoted. Found out more, after." He smiled a bit sadly. "I was distracted. I make no excuse for what I am. I swore binding blood oaths. I can no more break those than _you_ can pass by someone in pain."

"Don't do this to me." Iriana begged, sitting back on the bed. "Don't _do_ this to me! I _can't_ go through this _again_!" She felt her eyes start to burn. "This is a virtual world! Just...fade out or whatever the hell you do! Leave me alone! It is what you are _best_ at!"

"No." Stalker said softly, but there was no give in his voice. "Not this time."

"I _won't_ help you!" Iriana snarled. " _Never_ again!"

"I know." Stalker said with a small smile. "I don't blame you."

"But this time? _I_ am going to try to help _you_."

* * *

 **A hidden relay**

The staff of the relay were shocked beyond words when a pair of blood soaked forms appeared on the portal platform. According to scans, the human was alive... Everything stopped as the four legged form stood up on three legs, her face hidden behind the armored mask. Despite that, her howl of rage and pain sounded across the relay.

 _ **MEDIC!**_

The medical staff were well trained and a reaction post was near the portal room. They arrived even before the last vestiges of the howl faded. They started forward, only to pause as the Kubrow growled.

 _Help her._ There were no words. It was more images, but the gist was clear. The Kubrow stepped aside, one hind leg twisted wrongly. She moved off the platform and stood, waiting.

"You are hurt." One of the nurses said as the rest of the team focused on the human woman who lay on her side, blood pooling.

 _I will live._ The Kubrow declared. _Amelia... Save Amelia._

"She needs surgery _now_. Multiple gunshot wounds." The head medic declared. They bustled her onto a portable gurney and literally ran from the room, leaving the nurse and the staff of the portal to stare at the Kubrow.

"What happened?" The nurse took a step towards the Kubrow, but stopped as the animal snarled softly. "We want to help."

 _I have to go back._ The Kubrow declared. _They were hurting the others. The healer. I have... to..._ She took a step towards the portal and collapsed. _No._

"Easy." The nurse said as she knelt by the hurt being. She pulled a scanner from a pouch and started to sweep only to pause as she saw what was under the blood. Armor. _Familiar_ armor. There was only _one_ Kubrow who wore a warframe. " _Kori?_ " The Kubrow had come to the relay on a number of occasions to study. To visit her friends.

 _I..._ Kori managed to gasp out. _Help Amelia..._ She begged as consciousness fled.

"We need to get her to medical too." The nurse said as she pulled the hurt leg out straight. She did a quick scan and frowned. "Her insides are nothing I have seen before."

"What is going on?" The cold voice of the executive in charge of the relay preceded Vina into the room. She froze on seeing the unconscious Kubrow. "What the hell? Kori? How bad?"

"She has been shot twice." The nurse said quietly. Vina hissed and the nurse nodded. "Her warframe protected her somewhat." The nurse said softly, easing the unconscious canine carefully to safeguard her spine. "Most of the blood is not hers. Most is human. But not _all_. Some... I don't know _what_ this is." Vina blanched.

"Full quarantine!" Vina snapped and the tech at the console hit controls, sealing the room. "The response team took the other to medical. Warn them." The tech nodded and keyed his com, starting to speak quickly. She focused on the nurse and repeated herseld. "How bad?"

"I don't know, administrator." The nurse said with a gulp. "The leg is straightforward except for her armor. Her insides are not like any Kubrow I have ever seen. Her warframe should heal her. But... I don't know."

"Right." Vina said with a scowl. "Until we know she or the other isn't a carrier of anything nasty, this deck will be quarantined. Stay with her. I will make some calls."

"Yes Ma'am." The nurse sat beside Kori's still form and her hand was gentle as it wiped some of the mess from the still form's armor. "Even if it heals her, she will need help."

"That is my first call." Vina promised as she all but ran from the room, heading for the closest com center even as red quarantine warnings started to flare all around. The nurse just sighed and sat with Kori. She couldn't do much without information. Anything she did might cause more problems than it solved. But she could pray for the kind hearted not-quite-an-animal. So she did.

It wasn't long before the portal flared again. The nurse went still as seven warframes stepped off the portal to surround Kori. One of them, a Trinity, bent down to scan and the nurse slid aside.

"She has been shot. Armor piercing rounds." The nurse said quietly. "Most of the blood is not hers. Amelia Priosa is in surgery." One of the warframes darted away. "I... didn't know what to do." The Trinity looked at her, reached out to pat her arm and then went to work on the fallen Kubrow.

"She will live." The pitch black Nekros was known to everyone on the relay. No one stood easy when Nikis arrived. No one. "Do you know anything about what happened?"

"No." The nurse said softly. "Just that she said the healer was being hurt too." At that, everything stopped. All of the other warframes turned to stare at her and the nurse gulped. "That is all she said before she collapsed."

"They went for Iriana..." Nikis' voice was a terrible thing. "Mother****ing bastards went for _Iriana!_ " He jerked towards the portal and then shook himself. "They want us to charge in. Not think. They will have traps set. They did before."

"Sir!" The tech at the controls called. "Portal incoming! Unknown sender!"

Nikis snarled and drew his pistols. The nurse quailed, but the Trinity moved to kneel between Kori and the platform as the others all drew weapons. The rest of the Tenno made ready as the platform flared and a figure stood on it. He too was armored. All of the Tenno aimed, but the red and black armored form stood quietly, the three humans behind him not daring to move.

"Grandmaster Nikis." The black and red warframe's voice was sad and sick. His head was covered in silver metal. So was the head and neck of the woman he held in his hands. "I surrender."

"Is this some kind of sick _joke_ , kinslayer?" Nikis demanded, his aim not wavering.

"No." The newly come warframe slowly laid his burden down and knelt in seiza. "Please tell me you can help Iriana." Nikis stared from the red and black form to the unconscious woman, his posture incredulous. "Please! We got her out, but they hurt her, bad. They are trying to enslave her."

"They _have_. There is no cure." Nikis said softly. One pistol moved to point at the unconscious Healer's head. "They made sure of it."

" _No!_ " The red and black warframe didn't seem to move, but suddenly, he was between the unconscious woman and the gunfighter. "There has to be _something_! I can't leave Mishka without her _mom_!" Nikis slumped, just a little.

"Look... The only cure was _destroyed_ centuries ago. By the scum who did this." The Nekros shook his head. "I _know_ what will happen to her. Death is _far_ more merciful than what those scum do. Move or I will deny Sun the pleasure of killing you himself." None of the other Tenno moved at all as Stalker shook his head.

"We have to try." Stalker begged. "There has to be _something!_ "

"I am sorry." Nikis said sadly as he took careful aim.

"There isn't."


	7. Chapter 7

**Alliances**

 _Stop_

The word was quiet, but it reverberated through the tense scene in the portal chamber. All eyes turned to Kori, but the Kubrow was still unconscious. The nurse sat still beside the fallen canine, trying very hard not to draw the attention of any of the highly dangerous beings in the room in the room. Nikis jerked and then spoke.

"I worried they had killed you, Janet." The Nekros did not lower his pistol. But everyone else went still.

 _They very nearly_ _did_ _._ The voice of the Oracle was sad. _They_ _did_ _kill three of my friends. Zina H-12, Maria F-89 and Charlize K-52 died when the environment was breached. The others were saved, but several are hurt. None of us will be mobile for some time. Don't kill Iriana, Nikis._ Janet warned. _She is our only chance._

"Janet, the Forgotten destroyed the cure." Nikis protested. "We cannot save her."

 _They destroyed_ _a_ _cure, Nikis._ The Oracle replied. Nikis tilted his head in query, but she did not elaborate. _What they did was well planned out and horrific in the extreme. But it_ _will_ _get worse._

"Of course it will." Nikis growled. "What can you tell us?"

 _Only this._ Oracle Janet said quietly. _Stalker has a role._ Stalker jerked at that. _Yes, I know you broke your word to me. No, she didn't give you any_ _choice_ _._ Nikis chuckled darkly at that and Janet sighed. _I cannot stay much longer. I love you, Nikis. Never forget that. Love will win out in the end, but it is a hard road filled with pain. They will try to use love against you. Do not let them._

"Please." Stalker begged. "What can I do to save Iriana?"

 _Find the source._ With that, Oracle Janet was gone.

"The... source?" One of the humans who had come with Stalker said dubiously. She paled as all faces -shrouded and not- turned to her. "I..."

"Tend Iriana, Medic Wilmi." Stalker said as he shifted a little. He was still between Nikis and the healer's still form, but his posture was less tense. "Shoot _me_ if you must, Grandmaster Nikis. Please do not shoot her. She is a medic. No more." The medic went to her knees beside Iriana. A scanner appeared in her hand and started to whir.

"Asking for trust ain't gonna work, kinslayer." The pitch black Nekros retorted, not lowering his pistol.

"I know." Stalker replied evenly. "I am not. I am here..." He nodded to the healer's still form. "...for her. To pay a _smidgeon_ of the debt of pain I owe Iriana." He shrugged. "If shooting me helps..." Everything stopped as Nikis' right hand Magnus pistol roared.

Stalker went down, a hole in his chest armor. Wilmi cringed beside Iriana as both human soldiers froze behind her. None of the Tenno so much as flinched. Stalker did not move. Did not react.

"Just so we understand one another, kinslayer." Nikis' tone might have been conversational anywhere else. Here? It was terrifying. His pistol fired again, this time blowing a hole in Stalker's abdomen armor. Stalker still did not react. "Do _not_ push me. For all of my kin you have killed, I want your energy to secrete away in a nasty place. To let it _burn_ for eternity. For all of the pain and loss you have caused, I want your _suffering_. _All_ of us want your life ended. I do not, have not and _will_ not trust you." No one dared to _breathe_ hard as Nikis shook his head. "Janet says we need you, so... I _do_ trust her. She does do what she thinks is right. Not always the easy way or the quick way, but what is right. While you are here, your _life_ is secure." This was to the other Tenno as much as Stalker. The Rhino shook his head but no one commented. No one likely dared. "But you step a _millimeter_ out of line and I _will_ start blowing appendages off. I will start with your fingers and then work on your toes. And if you really piss me off, I will go get Sun. Do I make myself clear?" At that, Stalker winced. The Tenno interrogator had a vendetta as dark as Stalker's own and would make it hurt for a long, long time.

"Yes." Stalker said calmly despite the two large holes blown in him.

"Good." Nikis relaxed a little, and pistols went back to his sides. "Because unless I miss my guess, the 'source' that Janet mentioned is going to be hard as hell to find." Wilmi moved from Iriana to the form in red and black, her scanner working and Nikis shook his head. "Don't get between us and him, girl."

"I swore to aid him." Medic Wilmi said firmly. Nikis looked at her and the two human soldiers who hadn't moved. He shook his head a little. "Whatever he is to you, whatever he did, I am sworn to aid him."

"You get between us and him and you are going to die." Nikis' tone was more than a little chill now, but Wilmi just nodded.

"I made my peace." Wilmi said quietly as she started to work. Stalker jerked as she started treating him, but did not move. "I knew as soon as I saw him that I would likely die. But he asked my help. He could have demanded it. He didn't."

"Be that as it may, girl." Nikis grunted. "He kills my kin. There is no way _any_ of us will trust him. He will use anything and everything to hurt us. To kill any unwary Tenno he can. It is what he is. _All_ he is."

"Begging your pardon, Tenno." Wilmi shook her head as she worked. "But you are wrong." She nodded to where Iriana lay.

"So _very_ wrong."

* * *

 **The Citadel**

Jesse had finally stopped crying. Raven and Elenia hadn't left her side. Seeing Trinity's marker had upset the young Tenno very badly. As soon as Elenia's shout had aroused the Citadel, it had all gone into lockdown. All of the portals were shut down and all of the security was at its maximum level.

Jesse had barely noticed. Rachel -the leader of the Tenno who called the Citadel home- had come and gently pulled Jesse away from the memorial of her mentor. Jesse hadn't been violent, she just couldn't stop crying. But now she had.

"Jesse." Raven sat beside her at a table in a large room that looked as if it had been a meal area once.

"Raven." Jesse scrubbed her face harshly. "I... I didn't mean to..." She stammered, but paused as arms surrounded her. She looked and Elenia sat on her other side, the Tenno's warframe holding her gently. Jesse shuddered, but focused herself. "I... Do we know what happened?"

"No." Raven said quietly. "No coms. The Citadel is locked down though. Whatever happened didn't get here. And it won't if Rachel has anything to say about it." Jesse smiled a bit forlornly at the Elder's calm statement. No. No one sane _would_ try to attack the Citadel.

"I am sorry for being a wimp, Elenia." Jesse apologized, but the Mag warframe just hugged her gently.

"Jesse, that freaked _me_ out." Elenia said sternly. "Give yourself a little credit. You didn't fall apart completely. You didn't need pharmaceutical help to recover."

"She is... gone." Jesse said weakly. "I mean. She was, before. But not. You know?" Elenia and Raven both nodded.

"I know." Raven took Jesse's hand in hers and gave a squeeze. "But right now, you have two important things to do. One, check on Draco. And two? Find out what the hell just happened. No one is responding to our attempts at communication."

"What?" Jesse swallowed hard. "What have you tried?"

"Everything except physically going somewhere, which we cannot do." Elenia said with a sigh. "We are stuck for the moment and- Oh..." She paused as Rachel entered the room and made a beeline for the trio. Rachel wore her warframe and was fully armed. "Tenno Rachel?"

"We have restored some communication." Rachel said without preamble. She knew that the other three preferred actions to words. "I spoke with Nikis." She slumped a bit. "We have two massive problems and they are interconnected. Jesse." She said sternly as Jesse tensed. "You need to stay calm. This will upset you. Again. The shield went up so fast we didn't hear it."

"Hear what?" Jesse forced her voice to stay quiet and calm. It was hard. Rachel reached out to take the hand that Raven wasn't holding and held it as gently as Raven was the other.

"Trinity and the others are not gone yet." Rachel said with a sigh. "Soon. The database is too big and too vulnerable." Jesse hissed and Rachel nodded. "The Corpus found a way in."

"Oh my _god_." Jesse paled, and then forced herself to focus. "But they didn't manage to damage it or we would hear heard something. Felt something."

"No." Rachel sounded angry now. "But they did break into a very secure partition and nearly released some _very_ nasty energy forms." Raven and Elenia both stiffened and Rachel nodded. "They failed, but it was close. Two of the Guardians of the Dead fell stopping them." At that, Jesse gave a small cry and Rachel nodded. "The shades within the database have decided. It needs to shut down."

"No..." Raven said weakly. "No... They... They can't." Jesse shook her head and pulled Raven close. Rachel and Elenia also shared their strength."That is wrong. All our kin are there."

"Not all." Jesse said softly. "I was told it was only half an existence. That not all slain Tenno remain. It was intended to give grieving family members a way to say goodbye. It didn't stay that." Jesse said sadly. "Trinity called it a technological _hell_."

"But..." Raven shook her head. "Hayden and all of the First. All of them... Their shades reside there."

"And they are _sick_ of it." Jesse said softly. Raven stared at her and swallowed hard. "I don't like this, Tenno Rachel." Jesse said quietly. "But I am not there. I have no right to judge."

"That is what Nikis said too. He wasn't happy, but he has managed to stay in control of himself. Apparently, there was a failsafe put in place long, long ago." Rachel said softly. "That way if the database grew out of control, it could be shut down. The problem is that none of us know _where_ the failsafe is. Apparently, the First Empress wanted it well hidden and even _she_ didn't know where it was. I have started a records check and we shall see what comes of that."

"Shutting down the database." Jesse slumped in place. "I never thought to see the day. I saw it you know?" Jesse said sadly. The others looked at her. "I don't remember it. But the feelings. I remember those." Then she paused. "Wait... I would think Nikis would be ecstatic. He has been forced to watch over it since its creation, yes?"

"Not forced." Rachel corrected Jesse grimly. "He chose the duty. And just _after_ it was built. He doesn't know here the failsafe is." Jesse looked at her and Rachel heaved a sigh. "Jesse..." She bent down to embrace the girl carefully. "Be calm."

"What has happened?" Jesse asked softly fear starting to rise. She began her mantras to fight it.

"The database is vulnerable for the first time in its existence, Jesse." Rachel said softly. "Under Orokin, it was well defended. Until now, no one knew it existed." She looked at the floor. "Or so we thought."

"Someone is going after the database?" Jesse asked. Rachel nodded and Jesse snarled, her face intent. Raven and Elenia both mirrored her. "Then we stop them."

"Jesse." Rachel repeated. "Be calm. You need to be calm." Jesse stilled and Rachel nodded. "The enemy who seeks the database has launched their first attacks. They were devastating. The Lotus was critically injured."

"The Lotus?" Jesse's horrified query was matched by Raven and Elenia. "Is.. she...?"

"She is alive." Rachel sighed. "Several of the First took physical forms to talk to the current Empress." Jesse felt her eyes bulge and Rachel nodded. "Trinity was there. The attack was apparently a nanobot manufactured explosive. One bot got past Avalon's security and built a explosive charge _inside_ the Lotus' interface chamber. They saved her, but she will be out of action for a bit. Another shade took her place. One named Mari."

" _Mari_?" Raven exclaimed. "From Karl's clan? Cecelia's mother?"

"The same." Rachel hugged Jesse gently. "You are not alone Jesse. You are not."

"Just tell me." Jesse said, her code stilling.

"Okay." Rachel said softly. "At the same time the Lotus was attacked, the same people attacked your mother." Jesse jerked, but did not move. She felt her heart start to race and she slowed it through sheer force of will. "Your mother is alive."

"They hurt her, didn't they?" Who said that? That wasn't Jesse's voice, was it? It was far, far too calm and cool to be Jesse's voice speaking about her human flesh and blood.

"Yes." Rachel hugged Jesse gently again. "We do not know how badly. But she survived. They damaged the enclave and killed three of her attendants. We don't have information on any other casualties."

"I suddenly wish I was a Warrior." Jesse couldn't believe her voice was that calm. She was anything but calm. "I..."

"No, you don't, Jesse." Elenia said firmly. "You are angry. Who _wouldn't_ be? But you are not like me. You do not _want_ to _be_ like me." Rachel nodded agreement.

"You have a right to your anger, Jesse." Raven said quietly. "But do not let it cloud who and what you are. You are Jesse. A new sister I am proud to sponsor. Do not let them -whoever they are- change you." She hugged Jesse tight. "You can choose whatever you wish. But you are _not_ a killer. Not at heart."

"I..." Jesse felt her resolve start to crumble as all three hugged her gently. "I just..."

"I know, honey." Raven said as Jesse started to cry again. "I know."

"We need your help, Jesse." Rachel said quietly. Jesse stared at her through tear streaked eyes and the Saryn Prime snarled. "We cannot be sure that even our security can stop a _single_ nanobot. So we need to check the entire Citadel, see if they left _us_ any surprises."

"An electronic attack..." Jesse said softly as she hugged Raven and then Elenia. Then she dashed her tears away on the sleeve of her bodysuit and nodded. "I will do my duty. Cyberlancer Jesse reporting for duty, Tenno Rachel." Her voice broke a little as she spoke.

No one cared.

* * *

 **Somewhere far across the solar system**

"What the...?"

Grineer were many things. Smart was not generally one of those things. It wasn't always their fault. Centuries of unrestricted cloning had caused irreparable damage to even the best bloodlines of clones. And it didn't help that the Grineer who had been tasked to repair the genetic damage caused by the cloning was bug nuts crazy.

Grineer had always been bred to be big, strong and tough. Smart was not really a desired trait. After all, if one had the brains to think about things, one might start to think instead of mindlessly obeying orders and then where would the Grineer be?

That said, not all Grineer were stupid. The smart ones fell into two categories. Ones who had survived for a long time and hidden their smarts. It was far safer in Grineer society to be considered stupid. Smart Grineer were viewed as threats by higher authority and always got the nasty jobs. 'Cleaning out Infested hives armed with a blunt stick' kind of nasty.

But there was another kind. A kind of Grineer who were bred to be smart. Who were bred and trained to be more than just rank and file soldiers. These Grineer were always watched by those in higher authority and downright feared by those beneath them. Part of that was because all were female. Part was their job. They were what passed for medics amongst the Grineer.

They were called 'Reclaimers'.

Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 had just finished her latest training session. She was tired and sore from bending over a table on which her latest training aid had been restrained. She had managed to keep the no rank clone from expiring for two more hours than the last time. She felt a sense of accomplishment in that. Her main job was to dispose of clones that were damaged beyond repair, but her other job -it was sort of a job and sort of a hobby- was interrogation. She hadn't ever been called to interrogate any prisoners. She hoped one day to do so. It wasn't anything perverse, she had a job and she wanted to do it. She felt nothing for anyone other than Grineer. She felt disdain for all of the clones lower in rank than her and a grudging sense of respect to those in positions of authority.

For any human, the Reclaimer's attention to detail and macabre sense of humor would have been downright frightening and stomach churning. It was what she did. But now? She was curious.

"What is this?" She mused as she examined a dead clone who had been found on one of the lower decks of the galleon on which she had lived her entire life. An odd metallic thing was attached to the clone's head. She prodded it with a scalpel, but nothing happened. "Hmmm..."

She was reaching for the mass with a tool when something unprecedented and utterly unexpected happened. A golden form appeared in the middle of her ward and spoke.

"You really don't want to do that, Reclaimer 12-G-1287645." The hologram nodded to her as she stumbled back from the tray on which the dead clone lay. "Matter of fact, you will want to incinerate that clone. Right _now_."

Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 thought about that for a moment. Then she realized that it wasn't just wise. But imperative that she do so. She hit a button and the tray slid aside. The dead clone fell into a pit and...

She jerked back as an anguished animal scream came from the pit. She stared at the table as it slid closed, cutting the sound off.

"Good girl." The holo said quietly. But... a flash of white and it _wasn't_ a holo anymore. The woman nodded as her form was encased by Grineer armor.

"Who are you?" Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 asked, her voice suddenly dull as fatigue swept up to claim her. But... hands caught her and held her gently as she swayed. She felt fear rise, but no anger. No rage. She felt... good.

"My name is Nadia." The human form said as she held the Reclaimer. The Grineer never noticed the woman's hand cupping the back of her head. She didn't see the energy that seeped form said hand into her skull right through her haz mat suit. After a moment, she didn't care anymore. It just felt... so... good.

"I am here to help."


	8. Chapter 8

**It's the... who?**

This was wrong. It was _so_ wrong.

Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 didn't care. The strange woman who had appeared in her work space still held her hand, but now they were walking. There had been a flash of gold and now? She had no idea where she was. Everything was bright and clean. The colors were bright. Not like Grineer colors. It seemed that every Grineer facility and ship had the exact same colors to hide that things stayed dirty until they fell apart due to lack of maintenance. This place wasn't like that at all. Everything was well maintained. The walls, the floor... Everything was clean and shiny.

"Is this place new?" Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 couldn't make her voice work quite right. What was happening to her?

"Yes." The woman who called herself Nadia said with a smile. She still wore Grineer looking armor, and the smile looked very out of place. "Not far, Reclaimer 12-G-1287645. Not far now. Are you tired?"

"Yes. What have you done to me?" Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 asked, trying to dredge up emotion. It wouldn't come. All she managed was listless.

"I am keeping you calm." Nadia said quietly. "There is no need for anger or fear, Reclaimer 12-G-1287645. I will not hurt you."

" _Life_ is pain." Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 said with a small shrug. "What do you want with me?" Nadia looked at her and the Reclaimer slumped a bit. "You stole me."

"Actually, I _rescued_ you." Nadia's face took on a sad cast now. Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 found she didn't like that. She preferred the woman smiling. That was wrong. _She_ was wrong. "Your ship was being subverted. You were next on their list. I am glad I got to you first. You are what we needed."

"I do not understand. " Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 said slowly.

"I know." Nadia said gently. "But you will." She led the way into a room that as bare except for a single high backed chair set in the middle of the floor. Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 paused, fear starting to surface, but Nadia gave her hand a tug and the Grineer let herself be pulled. "Come on, you are tired. You need to sit down for a bit."

"I am strong." Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 said as she was guided to the chair. Nadia helped her sit. "I... I am..." She sat and it was as if every ounce of energy left her body. She slumped into the chair, barely noticing when Nadia bent down. The odd woman was gentle as she swung the Reclaimer's legs up onto the chair. Suddenly, the Reclaimer could not move! "No..."

"You are strong, but any strength has its limits. Have no fear." Nadia's form wavered a bit and suddenly she was wearing a golden gown. "It's all right. It is going to be all right." The Reclaimer's fear dampened. It wasn't her being calm. The other was doing something!

"How do you do that? Change your appearance like that?" The female Grineer asked as she felt things restrain her in place. Suddenly, she was cold. She stared down and her armor was gone! One of her prosthetic legs vanished as she stared. "No..."

"Easy." Nadia bent down and took the Reclaimer's limp hand in her own. "It's all right. We need to be sure you are not contaminated." She gave the hand a squeeze and released it to step back. "As for how I change clothes? They are all holographic. I can change into many different kinds of clothing."

"Why would you?" The Reclaimer managed to get out and then she was falling. From far, far away, she heard a response.

"So I don't scare people when I try to help them."

* * *

Nadia slumped a bit as the energy cocoon surrounded the Grineer and the clone woman's armor vanished. She had volunteered for this, but it felt so wrong. Yes, that Grineer ship had been exposed to the Forgotten's attack, but she had essentially kidnapped this Grineer. She had subverted the clone woman's mind and led her away. Now they had stripped the woman's prosthesis and armor from her. But the worst was yet to come.

"I don't like this." Nadia whispered. But of course, she was overheard.

"Hold tight to those feelings, Nadia." A familiar voice sounded from nearby and Nadia smiled as a warframe appeared out of thin air. Or, a hologram of a warframe. Nadia nodded as the First Nyx scrutinized her. "This is wrong. We _all_ agree it is wrong. We won't hurt her."

"It is needed." Nadia said weakly. "She is Grineer. She was trained to hate Tenno. If you or any of the others had shown up, she would have fought. I wasn't anyone she knew of. She didn't have any orders pertaining to someone like me. Not a human, not a Tenno. Not Grineer. It confused her for just long enough. But I took control of her _mind_ , Nyx. I feel... _dirty_."

"I know, Nadia." Nyx stepped close, her presence offering comfort. "But you know we won't hurt her. You _did_ save her life. Hold to that." Nadia nodded and both turned to scrutinize the sleeping Grineer.

"That ship wasn't the only one they infected, was it?" Nadia said quietly as energy played over the still Grineer. Nyx shook her head. "What do they want? Does anyone know?"

"Not many people remember them, and they like it that way." Nyx said quietly. "They are not human. They never were." Nadia looked at her and Nyx shrugged. "Nadia, you remember some of what happened in Lasria, no?"

"Some." Nadia shivered a bit. "Mezner. The plague. Hayden." Her face turned soft for a moment and then she shook herself. She paused and turned to stare at Nyx. "You are not saying...?"

"Hayden was always driven by what happened in Lasria, Nadia." Nyx said quietly. "You know this." The corporeal woman nodded. "Thing is, there were infected there who predated the first plague." Nadia went still and Nyx nodded. "Hayden never figured out where they came from. Mag and I were changed differently from Hayden. The rest..." She sighed deeply. "People think the warframes came first. That Hayden simply put one on to defeat Mezner. You and I know better."

"I don't quite remember." Nadia's face furrowed in thought. She took a deep breath and blew it out. "Frankly? I am glad of that. I don't know how you Tenno handle remembering your deaths."

"We compartmentalize." Nyx replied evenly. "Sometimes, if it gets bad, we talk to other kin, try to work our way around it. But it was and is a hell of a shock."

"I bet." Nadia shook her head. "So... what do we do with her? We need her, but..." Nadia grimaced and Nyx nodded.

"By the time we are done with the scans, her prosthesis will be revamped." Nyx said with a frown in her tone. "I dislike altering people's minds, but she is Grineer. All she has known all of her life has been pain and anger. She is smarter than the average Grineer, but that is truly damning her with faint praise. They trained her to...enjoy causing pain." Nyx said with a hint of distaste. "A lot."

"Oh." Nadia's voice was small. "Ick."

"Yes." Nyx agreed. "This smacks of slavery, even if we will give her a chance to learn and then make a choice for herself. She won't be able to go back to what she was. Not the least because that ship will be destroyed. We cannot be sure the ship is clean. There is simply no way to decontaminate something that large, complex and dirty. The others will disable the cooling of the reactor. If the Grineer identify her, they will assume she fled the battle and kill her slowly." Nadia nodded. She watched as golden energy played over the woman's legs and face. But it was the green beam, that really, really bothered Nadia. The one that was working to alter the woman's mind. Just a little.

"How long?" Nadia asked, abject. "Until she wakes?"

"Not long. Are you _sure_ you can do this, Nadia?" Nyx asked kindly. "We have others, both corporeal and not, who could manage. I know you feel indebted to us, but this _will_ be rough."

"We need her." Nadia shrugged a bit. "Yes. I can do this." Nyx nodded and Nadia looked at her. "And... after? If she survives?"

"The odds of that are not good." Nyx had frown in her voice now. "But if she _does_... there are options." A low moan from the chair had them both looking. Nyx nodded to the corporeal form and vanished. Nadia gave herself a shake and moved to stand by the chair.

"Good morning." Nadia said quietly. "Did you sleep well?"

"This is wrong." The not-human woman on the chair said slowly, carefully. "What are you doing to me?"

"The device you found was an enslavement device." Nadia said quietly. "We had to be sure none of its components wound up in your prosthesis. We will replace what we took off in short order." The other thought about that for a moment.

"I..." The Grineer finally said. "I guess that is smart. What kind of device?"

"Nanotech." Nadia could not restrain a shiver but the Grineer just nodded a little. "Don't struggle. You are in no danger. We won't hurt you."

"Why me?" The Reclaimer asked softly. "Why take me? You... are doing things to me. To my mind."

"Yes." Nadia said softly. "Yes, we are. As for why you? You were available. We needed a Grineer and you were about to activate the device with your prodding. It would have jumped to you. Enslaved you."

"Oh." The Reclaimer swallowed hard and Nadia nodded even though the woman's sole flesh and blood eye was closed. "Why me?" She repeated.

"You were available and you are one of the Grineer medical types." Nadia took the woman's limp hand in her own. "This hasn't been done for some time, but we needed a Grineer. We need access to a set of records and none of us can get to them. A Grineer can."

"All I knew was the ship." Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 said uneasily. "What good can I do? I cannot access any secure areas for you." She made a noise of sorrow. "I shouldn't even be contemplating this. What are you _doing_ to me?" She demanded angrily, but then she sighed and relaxed as the energy playing over her face intensified for a moment.

"We are dampening your aggression and working to prepare you for what we need." Nadia said gently. "It will feel strange, but I am here to help."

"Why?" Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 asked slowly, her voice dazed as the green energy played over her skull in stronger and stronger waves. "What do you gain by doing this?"

"I hope to gain an ally." Nadia said quietly. "We have a horrible battle coming against a foe who uses any tactics to win. The Grineer will be attacked next." She sighed. " _Have_ been attacked. Or at least, the opening shots of the attack have been fired, with the enemy trying to subvert your Galleon."

"That thing on the clone." Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 said slowly, her eye open, but unfocused as a beam of energy came from above and shone directly into it. "Ow..." She complained weakly.

"Not long." Nadia was almost in tears as she held the clone's hand. "Easy. It is all right. Easy..." She crooned as the clone gave a small cry and slumped in her bonds. Then she lay still, her breathing slowing.

-Alterations completed- The voice from the AI that ran the place was calm, but underneath lay sorrow. Nadia held the clone's hand as the system spoke gain. -Beginning re-initialization.-

"This is so wrong." Nadia was crying and then she froze as the hand under hers jerked. She gave it a squeeze.

"What have you done to me?" The other female asked softly. "I am... This is wrong. I don't..."

"Yes, it is wrong." Nadia agreed. "You are Grineer. You were bred and trained to serve the queens."

"Yes. I..." The Grineer female made noise of fear. "I feel..." Nadia did not move as golden energy flared around the Grineer. Her prosthetic legs reappeared, attached to her knees. The Grineer stared down at her legs and her sole flesh and blood eye was huge. "What are you doing?"

"We have checked your prosthesis." Nadia said quietly as she released the hand she had been holding. "They are clean. No nanobots detected."

"You are not Grineer." The reclining female snapped, her anger rising. "Release me! Now!"

"Not yet." Nadia said sadly. "You see, what we did was just the preliminary. The foundation if you will."

"I won't help you!" The Reclaimer snapped. "I am _Grineer!_ I serve the _Queens!_ "

"I know." Nadia said softly as the chair slowly lowered into a flat table shape. She slumped a bit and shook her head. "I am sorry. I will stay with you. I won't leave you to face this alone."

"I do not need your help, base!" The Reclaimer screamed. "I am Grineer! We will-"

Her voice cut off as she collapsed in her bonds. Nadia turned and nodded as another female form entered the room. This one was very different though. She was neither young nor old. Where Nadia wore a golden gown, the newly come female wore a nun's habit in Corpus blue. Corpus Clergy!

"You are Nadia." The newcomer said calmly. No. Her voice _wasn't_ calm. It was totally devoid of emotion.

"And you are Sister Harriet." Nadia replied evenly. "Preliminaries are done. You know what is needed." It wasn't a question.

"I do." Sister Harriet replied in the same monotone. "The Reverend Mother was clear on my orders." She nodded to the Grineer female. "Restructuring this one's mind will take some time."

"I..." Nadia swallowed hard and nodded. "We better get started. We do not have a lot of time. The enemy who attacked the Lotus and Oracle Janet will try for other targets. Have they attacked your people yet?"

"Not that we know of." Sister Harriet moved to one wall and a bank of instruments appeared in front of her. She scrutinized them and nodded. "Are you sure you want her changed completely? A personality overlay would suffice for most situations."

"She needs to be able to infiltrate a Grineer fortress and send us information." Nadia replied, striving for calm. "She needs to be 100% convincing." Sister Harriet looked at Nadia and Nadia frowned. "I know. Once she sends us the information, she will likely die."

"So you are asking me to build a personality in this Grineer that will be selfless enough to put the good of the system before herself. To mold her into a being who will do the mission no matter the cost." Sister Harriet said slowly. The female in the golden gown nodded and Sister Harriet shook her head. "That is very pragmatic." Her tone was still the even monotone, but her words were stern.

"I know." Nadia agreed. "And... what is worse? We do not know if it will work." Sister Harriet shook her head slowly.

"That is not optimal." Sister Harriet said with a frown as she worked controls. A beam of yellow energy played over the unconscious Grineer's skull and the clone woman whimpered in her sleep. "What _is_ this enemy and what do they seek? The Clergy has never seen such before and we have been searching all of our records since the attack."

"I am not entirely sure." Nadia said with a grimace. "But according to a few sources, they call themselves 'The Forgotten'. They are not human, Tenno or Grineer. They can shift their shapes. We believe they may pre-date Orokin." At that, Sister Harriet stiffened and Nadia nodded grimly. "Only into human sized forms and according to most sources, they cannot perfectly mimic anything. Not well enough to fool scanners anyway. The few sightings that we have corroborated, they have used Tenno weaponry. But we do not think they have access to Tenno abilities."

"Good." Sister Harriet said mildly as she worked. "Do we know their ultimate goal?"

"I am not at liberty to say." Nadia said firmly. Sister Harriet looked at her and Nadia shook her head. "I have my orders." Sister Harriet did not move and Nadia slumped a bit. "I cannot say."

"Clergy records just identified you." Sister Harriet did not move as Nadia froze. "Nadia Sudek."

"I... do not use that name anymore." Nadia said softly. "Nowadays, I go by 'Nadia'. I um..." She trailed off as Sister Harriet turned from her machinery and looked at her. "What?"

"Nadia Sudek is dead." Sister Harriet's voice was still even, but her posture tense was a coiled spring.

"Yes." Nadia replied. Sister Harriet looked at her and Nadia shook her head. "I am."

"Yet, here you stand." Sister Harriet said slowly. "And now, you speak of enemies who can shift their shape."

"I am not a shapeshifter." Nadia said quietly.

"Prove it." Sister Harriet replied calmly. "Or I leave."

"Okay." Nadia sighed and Sister Harriet went still as Nadia's form went still. No. Her _physical_ form was still! Something stepped out of it. Something indistinct. Something that was suddenly encased in golden... no! She _was_ golden energy! The holographic form stood in place as Sister Harriet stared at her.

"This... cannot be." Sister Harriet's voice was slow and careful. " _You_... cannot be."

"I died." Nadia said softly. "Hayden Tenno killed me in Lasria during the second Technocyte plague. My body was taken and frozen. A clone was made from it. The Orokin were better at cloning that the Grineer are. I woke in a clandestine weapons laboratory and I spent a long, _long_ time working there, a slave to an Orokin AI." Sister Harriet hadn't moved and Nadia sighed. "I died again when a very brave woman named Mari stopped the AI from releasing a bioengineered monstrosity on the Solar System. I am dead. This..." She waved a hand at her transparent form. "...is all that is left."

"You are a shade. But... You cannot leave the database in physical form." Sister Harriet had actually paled. "You _cannot_."

Both women went still as another form appeared beside Sister Harriet. The holo shimmered a bit but the emotions were clear. The Reverend Mother of the Corpus Clergy was _not_ happy. Stood to reason. She had been Tenno once. She knew about the Balance.

"You _left_ the _database?_ You _made_ a body for yourself?" The Reverend Mother demanded of Nadia. "That is _forbidden!_ It has been since Orokin!" Nadia looked away and the Reverend Mother snarled. "Harriet, stand down. Do _nothing!_ " She turned to Nada who would not meet her eyes. "What have you _done?_ The Balance is there for a _reason!_ I want an answer and I want it _now!_ "

"She cannot answer you, Reverend Mother." All eyes turned to where a corporeal man with dark hair stepped through a door into the room. But he _wasn't_ human and the Glaive he held in one hand was _not_ a normal Tenno Glaive. Hayden Tenno -the First Tenno- shook his head.

"I _can_."


	9. Chapter 9

**Spiritual**

"You...?" The Reverend Mother seemed at a loss for words. "You cannot do this."

"Actually, it has always been possible, if hard." Hayden replied calmly as he strode to where Nadia stood frozen. "It's okay, Nadia. I have got this."

"The Grineer is my responsibility, Hayden." Nadia said softly. "I messed up. Before. I need-" She broke off as Hayden laid a physical hand on her holographic arm. She stared at his hand and then at her arm.

"Normal rules don't apply right now, Nadia." Hayden said with the ghost of a grin. "Take your shell and step outside. I need to talk to these Clergywomen."

"She is my responsibility, Hayden." Nadia said firmly. "I won't leave her."

"You are still as stubborn as ever." Hayden complained as he stepped forward, nodding to the two Clergywomen. "Whatever. Learned my lesson about trying to get females to do the _smart_ thing." Nadia bristled, but Hayden just chuckled. "I did. Won't try to force you. I like my health."

Nadia smiled at that and stepped into her body. She shook her head slowly as she flexed her fingers.

"This feels so _weird_." She complained softly as she took a step back and to the side.

"Yeah." Hayden replied as he scrutinized the two women in front of him. The Reverend Mother hadn't moved and Harriet? She was frozen in place. Hayden sighed and banished his Glaive. "This was needed."

"You can't do this." The Reverend Mother's voice was soft and scared now. "You _can't_. It is not allowed."

"You are _mostly_ right." Hayden agreed as he sat on the floor. "Tell me, Reverend Mother, what does the Clergy know of the database?"

"Not much." The Reverend Mother said dubiously. "That it exists. And not from me. They knew that some of the fallen Tenno and Orokin go there. That the Balance there must be maintained." The disapproval in her voice was patent.

"Not _just_ Tenno and Orokin, Reverend Mother." Hayden said quietly. He snapped his fingers and another holo appeared beside him. This woman wore a golden version of the Reverend Mother's and Sister Harriet's habits. "Evelyn?"

The Reverend Mother stared at her and then her eyes went huge. Sister Harriet retreated a step and fell to her knees, her hands coming up in silent prayer.

"Technically, I _was_ Orokin. We were going to tell you." The newcomer said quietly. "This was a hard choice to make. But it had to be." Hayden bowed his head and the ghostly woman sighed. "Stop that, Hayden!" She chided. "We decided. Almost all of the shades are in agreement. Especially after what happened."

"You..." The Reverend Mother was sinking to her knees, but froze as the newly come woman frowned and shook her head.

"Don't you _dare!_ " The one whom Hayden had called Evelyn said sharply. "I _had_ my time. I did my best. I did what had to be done. I passed. This life is not for me again. I am here because Hayden needed someone who could talk to you. Who you would recognize. _You_ lead the Clergy now, Reverend Mother." The shade of the woman who had been the _first_ Reverend Mother said firmly. "I am here for a short time to advise. No more."

"What happened?" The current time's Reverend Mother begged as she rose. She crossed herself absently, a motion that Harriet mimicked. Evelyn did the same and all three women relaxed a little. "I... The rules were clear."

"Yes, and we abide by them as we always have." Evelyn said softly. She smiled at Hayden. "With oversight, mind you." Hayden shook his head silently and Evelyn continued. "The problem is... _We_ abide by the rules. Others do not." At that, the Reverend Mother stiffened. Evelyn nodded. "It was going to happen sooner or later. The Grineer have been trying to access. They believe it is an unlimited power source. Something to power their weapons and ships."

"Jesselle's mess." The Reverend Mother said softly. Evelyn nodded. "Jesse now."

"Yes." Evelyn sighed. "That girl reminds me a bit too much of me. The good _and_ the bad."

"Me too." The Reverend Mother said softly. "Did the Grineer manage again?" Evelyn shook her head and sighed. The Reverend Mother grimaced. "Oh no."

"A _Corpus_ survey team breached the database." Hayden said into the silence that fell. "They did not know what they were doing. What they were breaching. Interrogating the sole..." He paused. "Well, 'survivor' is the wrong word. His body died from the feedback. But we have his energy. He isn't gone. He was rather surprised when he figured out where he was. What he and his team had done. Who had him."

"He was scared _shitless_." Nadia said only to freeze as Evelyn looked at her. She bowed her head and remained quiet. "Sorry."

"Crudely put but true." Evelyn said without the hint of a smile. "They breached the secure partition that the Tenno used as a prison."

"No." The Reverend Mother actually backed up a step. "No. Tell me they didn't get _loose_!" Harriet looked at her and the Reverend Mother shook her head. "You do _not_ want to know."

"They didn't." Evelyn's face was sad now. "But it cost two of the Guardians of the Dead their existences stopping them. Michael, Redi, Rasputin, Nicholas and several others are gone completely from the database. Deleted and reformatted. Even if their energy reforms, it cannot reform into _them_."

"Thank _god!_ " The Reverend Mother said fervently. Harriet stared at her and the leader of the Clergy sighed. "Not all Tenno are noble or selfless. They were some of the _worst_. They died and their remnant energies were imprisoned." She bowed her head. "For the lost. For the fallen, I offer my prayers. We know what it is to stand against the darkness. May the Guardians find their way through the darkness to the promised kingdom." Evelyn and Sister Harriet murmured an acknowledgement.

"The Guardians who fell were good people." Hayden said softly. "They had an awful job, but they did it. We may not be human, but many of remembering being such. Your prayers are appreciated." He said to the Reverend Mother who nodded. "I wish it hadn't been necessary to delete them. Even as bad as they were, they were kin. Once. But the prisoners _could_ not get loose. They did enough damage _before_. And we could do _nothing_ to stop them while they were alive. That was forbidden."

"In any group of individuals, you will have both good and bad." Evelyn said quietly as she laid a transparent golden hand on Hayden's shoulder. "Not your fault, Hayden."

"I know." Hayden said softly. "But it hurts anyway. I may not be human, but I do remember such things as regret."

"That makes you more human than many _humans_ I have known." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "So... the Balance is broken?" She asked hesitantly. Hayden, Evelyn and Nadia nodded. "So... what?"

"You won't like it." Hayden said quietly. The Reverend Mother scoffed at that.

"I do things every day I don't like." The Clergywoman said with a sigh. "Go ahead."

"The database is vulnerable." Hayden said softly. "We cannot move it or hide it. The Forgotten have launched an attack. Nikis warned us." He sighed. "We didn't want to believe, but they did exactly as they said they would. So we know they are going for the database."

"To do what, exactly?" The Reverend Mother asked. "If I knew of these 'Forgotten' things, I don't remember them. And none of the records we have tell of them."

"They _wanted_ to be forgotten." Hayden shook his head. "We thought they wanted to fade away. Nikis didn't, but he was overruled. No one knew that we had nearly been wiped out." The Reverend Mother froze and Hayden nodded. "That we did not lose anyone to their attack was a miracle. They are older than _I_ am." At that, the Reverend Mother actually hissed. Hayden nodded again. "Yes. I met them first in Lasria. They worked with Mezner, but it was hard to tell if they served him or _he_ served _them_." He shrugged. "Or maybe both served another force? I don't know."

"They came when Mezner called." Nadia said softly. "I remember that. But as for him commanding them? I don't remember. He _thought_ he did, but now I am not so sure."

"We cannot know now." Hayden said with a sigh. "But as for _why_ they want the database? The same reason the Grineer do. But _they_ know what it is. They want the shades as power sources. To power their machines and weapons." At that, the Reverend Mother jerked and Hayden nodded. "Yes. They plan to enslave us all."

" _How_?" The Reverend Mother pleaded. "That isn't possible. I was told..." She shook her head. "Well, I was told that the only way to access it would result in a catastrophic release of energy."

"We are not entirely sure." Hayden said sadly. "They keep secrets like nobody's business. Ordinarily, your agents or the Tenno would be able to gain access, but anyone not of their kind that they encounter they will kill or enslave. It is what they do. They ones they kill, they use to make more of themselves. Human, Tenno, Grineer, it makes no difference. They break the bodies down into the basic elements and use those to make more of themselves."

"They have to have a weakness." The Reverend Mother said slowly. "Or you wouldn't have been able to defeat them before."

"We poisoned them." Hayden replied. "They killed a number of humans and we had set traps." He bowed his head. "Before they could break the victims down, the bodies decomposed and poisoned them all. There were not that many of them. Now there are far more. We do not know how many."

"And you did not finish them...? The Reverend Mother said slowly. "Because...?"

"Because genocide is _wrong_." Evelyn said firmly. "I happen to think they did the right thing. Nikis stopped talking to the others for a time." Hayden grimaced and nodded. "He was justifiably upset. The victims that the Forgotten took were drained entirely, none of their energy made it to the database."

"Oh." The Reverend Mother swallowed hard. "That would set him off."

"He was only fifteen." Hayden said with a sigh. "We erred. We thought he was simply acting out. We didn't think they would survive what Saryn did to them. He wanted to be sure. We didn't agree. The Forgotten contacted us, promised to stay away. We took them at their words. Nikis stormed off and didn't come back for three years. He was right, we were wrong."

"I see." The Reverend Mother shook her head slowly. "So, how can you stop them from getting the database? From what I have gathered, these things are incredibly dangerous."

"You do not know the half of it." Hayden said sadly. "They ambushed Tenno on several occasions, often using co-opted humans and mechs as proxies. They put nanotech controllers on their slaves and no matter the person, -warframe or no- that person was lost. We built a device to disable the controllers. In most cases, the people's mind were unharmed except psychologically. It was destroyed two centuries before the Collapse. We geared up to find and destroy the Forgotten, but they had vanished from where we thought they were. We think they went to the Void."

"Destroy the cure and wait to see if another was made." The Reverend Mother mused. Hayden and Evelyn nodded. "So now, they strike."

"The cure required a number of exotic elements that are unavailable in this day and age." Hayden said softly. "We cannot make it again. When it was destroyed, Nikis demanded we make another. But the Tenno didn't have the resources. We would have been forced to go to the Orokin to get many of them. And _that_...?" Hayden shook his head. "Oh, they would have done so. But what they would have demanded in return would have been insane."

"So now, there is no cure for what the Forgotten do." The Reverend Mother said softly. Hayden nodded. "What can we do?"

"Janet contacted us." Evelyn said softly. "She said there may be another way. But first and foremost, the database is still vulnerable. Not just to the Forgotten, but to others." She bowed her head. "It must be shut down." At that, Harriet rose to her feet and stumbled back. The Reverend Mother just stared. Evelyn's face was sad. "We do not have a choice. If we did, we would take it. We don't."

" _All_ the shades..." The Reverend Mother's voice was remote. As if all of the horror she was hearing had forced her to sever herself from her emotions. Harriet actually grimaced. For the normally emotionless woman that was many, many screams of horror.

"Eliza will choose a few to remain." Evelyn said softly. "Not many. Your own... advisor will remain where she is."

" _All_ of you?" Harriet's voice was different. Emotional. The Reverend Mother spun as Sister Harriet gave a small cry and fell to her knees, tears welling. "No. Please." The leader of the Clergy moved to her subordinate's side and touched her arm. "I... No." Evelyn took a step forward as well.

"Sister Harriet, be at peace." Evelyn said softly as the Reverend Mother knelt by Harriet and took the now sobbing woman in her arms. "Very few of us wanted this. It was intended to give grieving family members a way to say goodbye, nothing more. A noble purpose. But then we couldn't leave. We have been consigned to this... technological hell for a long, long time. This is not the end, Sister. It is merely a step on the road." Harriet gave a small cry and the Reverend Mother held her as she sobbed. "Oh, Sister. I am sorry." Evelyn's voice was super soft now. "It is not your fault, or the fault of anyone alive in this time. Do not take responsibility for something that is not yours."

"All the others..." Harriet sobbed. "I can't... I can't control... Help?" She begged the Reverend Mother.

"Easy, Sister Harriet." The Reverend Mother cupped the back of Harriet's head and energy spun from her fingers. Harriet's tears slowed and stopped. Even as a hologram, she was powerful. "Easy. I will stay with you."

"You have other duties." Sister Harriet said as she rose, her face again the emotionless mask. "The Grineer must be reprogrammed." Evelyn, Hayden and Nadia all nodded. "Then I will do so." The Clergywoman stepped to the machinery and started working again.

"Oh Harriet." The Reverend Mother's holo rose, her face sad. "If there was _anyone_ else as skilled as you at working with minds, I would let you rest and heal." Harriet did not acknowledge her and she slumped a bit. "I failed you."

"No." Evelyn's holo stepped close to where the Reverend Mother stood. "You are letting her heal in her own time. That is wise. Pushing such will only cause more harm." She looked at Hayden who shrugged.

"What?" The Reverend Mother asked cautiously.

"We need this Grineer to find and activate the failsafe that will turn off the database." Evelyn said softly. "Until then, we -the shades- are constrained but less so."

"Why do you need a Grineer?" The Reverend Mother asked, still worried.

"Because while we do not know for certain, we are pretty sure the failsafe is on Luna." Hayden said with a sigh. The Reverend Mother stared at him and her face slowly paled again. "Yeah."

Luna. Earth's moon. The heart of the Grineer Empire. The seat of the Twin Queens. The single largest concentration of clones _anywhere_ in the Solar System.

"So, you program her, she goes in and flips a switch or something?" The Reverend Mother sounded dubious now and who could blame her?

"Nothing quite so simple."

* * *

 **Somewhere**

Iriana woke. She was not in pain. She felt good actually. She cracked her eyes and froze. She could _see!_ She was lying in a medical ward and sitting beside her...

"Hi mom." Mishka's voice trembled as she reached out to take Iriana's hand in her own. The girl looked like hell. Then again she had been at death's door when the others had managed to get her to proper medical care. They had saved her life. They hadn't been able to save her leg from an awful neurological poison. Jasmina's Infested allies had taken her in, kept her safe and secure. So why was she here? Now? Mishka smiled a bit forlornly. "My mom is hurt and I am just going to lie around?"

"You can't be here, Mishka." Iriana tried to sound stern, but her voice was so small and weak. "What...?"

"Oh, Mom." Mishka held onto Iriana's hand tight. "You are going to be okay. Even if that evil thing they put on you grows to cover you, you will be okay. The biosuit you wear will keep it contained now that it knows how."

"Mishka." Iriana felt tears start and then she couldn't stop them. "They will use me. They will take me and use me to hurt people. To hurt _you!_ "

"No, they won't Mom." Mishka promised. She gave Iriana's hand a squeeze. "They can't take you again. We won't let them."

"Mishka." Iriana felt herself start to fall. She was going under. "No! Mishkling! Don't. " She begged, but Mishka just leaned close and kissed her cheek.

"It is all right, Mom." Mishka's voice followed Iriana into darkness. It comforted her.

"It is going to be all right."

* * *

Mishka watched impassive as the clear fleshy cover reformed over top of her mother. The pod Iriana lay in was filling with blue fluid. A healing pod. A tap on her shoulder did not drag her attention from where her mother lay.

 _You need rest._ The mind that impinged on hers was worried. _We got it off._

 _But will that_ _stop_ _it, Healer?_ Mishka did not resist as human hands pulled her out of her chair and carried her to where a wheeled chair sat. The Infested tentacle did not follow. But she was beyond being squeamish about such. She was still very, very weak. She did not look at her legs. Or, her _leg_. Her right leg ended just below the hip. The poison she had been hit with had been very strong and she had had nearly died. Even now, they couldn't regenerate her leg. _The conversion was in her mind too._

 _Even if it continues we will not stop working to aid her._ Healer promised. _She would do no less._

 _No._ Mishka said as she was wheeled from her mother's room. She didn't want to see what the Infested Ancient Healer would have to do. The bits she had seen of her own treatments had been fairly disgusting. _She wouldn't. We will not give up on her._

 _No we will not, Caretaker Mishka._


	10. Chapter 10

**A moment**

"You need to take a break."

Jesse ignored the words. She focused on her work, her scans of the area. The voice behind her sighed. When it spoke again, it was resigned.

"Can you even _hear_ me?" The voice demanded. " _Jesse_!"

Jesse jerked at the half shout and spun in pace, her hand diving automatically to where her nunchaku sat at her waist. She froze on seeing Raven standing at the door, a tray on hand. The Elder was tapping her foot, obviously annoyed.

"Ah... Raven?" Jesse was confused. Wasn't Raven supposed to be asleep?

"Jesse." The Elder stepped into the room and set the tray down on a convenient flat surface before turning to scrutinize the younger Tenno. "Care to tell me why I was asked to _bring_ you your _supper_?"

"Supper?" Jesse asked, her mind whirling. She had worked since she had woken. There was so much to scan. To check. Even with the ultra high tech scanners and security systems that the Citadel boasted, there was still a lot of ground to cover. To sweep for nanites. Her code made it far, far quicker than anyone else could have been, but still... lots of ground to cover.

"Yes, Jesse." Raven crossed her arms, her expression thunderous. "Supper. As in the final meal of the day. Which you _missed_." She glanced at a wall chrono and sighed deeply. "By about six _hours_."

"Ah, Raven." Jesse sighed. "I need..." She broke off as Raven stepped forward, her face going stern and her hands going to her hips. The younger Tenno swallowed hard. She knew that look. She was in for it.

"I went to sleep _seven_ hours ago." Raven said quietly. "You were supposed to _eat_ and then _go to sleep_ yourself. You _didn't_." She reached out and took Jesse's arm in a grip that while gentle, wasn't going to break. "Come eat. Now."

"Raven, I need to do this." Jesse did not resist. First, it would have been foolish. Raven was stronger and better trained than Jesse was. Second, Raven was _right_. Jesse did know better. She simply hadn't noticed how the time had flown.

"You cannot do it all, Jesse." Raven thawed a little but her grip was still firm as she pulled Jesse from the machinery the younger woman had been examining. "You know better. You may be Tenno now, but you body still needs nourishment and rest. Have you found anything?"

"No." Jesse admitted as the Elder led her to a chair nearby and urged her to sit. She did. She wasn't stupid. "The Citadel has excellent defenses and they had incentive to prevent another nanite incursion."

Her face fell. The pain that had echoed in Rachel's voice when the leader of the Tenno of the Citadel had spoken of the nanobot attack that had cost the First Rhino and forced their split from the Orokin Empire had been heartfelt. Rachel still missed Richard and Bellina, that was clear to anyone with ears.

"I know you are worried, Jesse." Raven said kindly as she slid the tray in front of Jesse. The girl looked at her but did not argue. She started to eat. "About us, about your mom, about everything. But driving yourself crazy won't help."

"It is my duty." Jesse did not bother to try excuses. They didn't work with the Elder.

"Yes it is." Raven nodded. "But Jesse, there has to be a balance between duty and _sense_. This is one of the safest places in the Solar System. They haven't had as much exposure to everything as other places have. They have had far fewer people coming through. Less chance for a nanite to slip in."

"That is not the same as _no_ chance." Jesse argued quietly as she finished the meal. She pushed the tray away and looked at Raven who nodded. "Raven, I need to finish."

"Jesse." Raven's voice turned soft now. "You need to _sleep_. You do not have a warframe and outside of one, your body creates toxic byproducts the longer you stay awake. Come on, girl. You know better." Raven took Jesse's arm as the girl's face fell. "Now march."

"Yes, Raven." Jesse resigned herself to being led. She rose and started off as Raven urged her.

"We have a surprise for you, Jesse." Raven said quietly. "But you need to be asleep for it." Jesse stiffened and turned to look, but Raven's face was remote. It betrayed nothing. "No matter what, your body needs time to recuperate."

Jesse bowed her head. She knew better. It had just been so much, so fast. Trinity's marker, her mom being hurt, a new and deadly threat. It all saturated her. She wasn't good at multi-tasking yet, although she was learning.

Raven led her to a small room on the same floor. It was a standard guest room, nothing fancy or out of place. Raven let go of her arm and Jesse sighed as she sat down on the bed. She started to take her boots off. The bodysuit retracted into a sleep configuration and Raven nodded. The Elder stepped out of the room and the door closed. Jesse stared at the door and sighed. She did know better.

The girl lay down on the bed and started her sleep cycle. It wouldn't take long for her body to relax and fall into its rest ryth- What the? Jesse jerked as she... She wasn't alone!

"Hello Jesse." Trinity's voice came from nearby as the shade of her teacher appeared sitting on the bed beside her. She was not wearing her warframe. "Go to sleep."

"Trinity." Jesse begged, but the Tenno ghost just laid a hand on her brow and Jesse was falling. But she wasn't alone.

* * *

It wasn't a virtual world. She knew those. She was lying on something that gave underneath her. It was very comfortable. She cracked her eyes and she was on a bed. An ancient looking bed, but it felt so comfortable she didn't want to move.

"Hey." A soft voice from nearby had her try to jerk, but she couldn't. She knew the voice! "Don't struggle, Jesse. This is a dream. Not a nightmare. But you are safe."

"Of course I am, Draco." Jesse murmured as warm arms wrapped around her. "You are here."

Her bodyguard chuckled a little at that, but it was melancholy. Jesse did not move. They were not alone. Stood to reason. Draco was still in a machine that Jesse prayed could help him recover from a horrific ordeal that he had gone through as a child. He coped very well, but he had needed more help to recover.

"It is going to be a little while before I get out of the machine, Jesse." Draco said as someone rubbed her hair gently. "But it has helped."

"I am glad." Jesse said softly. "Scared me."

"I am sorry, Jesse." Draco sighed. "It was who and what I was. Mom and Dad were good to me, but I broke myself hard. And it was entirely my own fault."

"No, it wasn't." Jesse protested sleepily. "You lost your _mom_. How together could you _be_?" Draco made a soft noise and Jesse sighed as she relaxed further. "Am I... in Medicine Man?"

She wasn't sure how she felt about the former Sentient healer. On one hand, it had saved her life and was a font of information on Tenno ailments of all kinds. It had been designed to be medical support for Tenno during the war with the Sentients after Nikis had stolen it from the Sentients. On another, it was a horrific blending of human and technology. The host of Medicine Man was a human who was a slave in everything but name. Even the fact that the hosts volunteered for the role didn't really help much.

"No." Draco said gently. "You needed ease and it creeps you out. Heck, it creeps _me_ out." Jesse snorted at that and whoever was rubbing her brow did so again. "You are family, Jesse. We help family."

"I don't understand." Jesse said softly, losing herself in the comfort.

"I know." Draco's words were still so gentle. "But you will. I don't love you, Jesse. I am not going to. But I _do_ care for you, sister. Even beyond my duty and the debt I owe you. Rest now. Dream of peace and light."

Jesse sighed and did as instructed.

* * *

"I am glad not to have to sing a lullaby. My singing voice would drive her nuts."

Draco sighed as he turned to the others in the room. It wasn't packed. Only three other forms were in the dreamscape. None of the beings here wore warframes. Not a virtual world, but close enough for people to come if invited.

"You do yourself a disservice, Draco." Trinity sat beside Jesse, her hand still stroking the girl's short hair gently, soothing, calming. "Medicine Man has helped."

"Some." Draco sighed. "I am not going to be perfect. But I won't be going berserk at the drop of a hat either." The other two shades relaxed a little and Draco smiled at them. "Mom, dad?"

"Jesse is really good at thinking outside the box." The First Nyx said with a smile of her own. "All I wanted her to do was calm you down and now look at you." Her smiled turned fond. "You could do far worse than Jesse, Draco."

"Now, now, Nyx." Draco's father interjected before Draco could even bristle. "Don't start. He gave his word to protect her. He will. From anything, _including_ himself." He nodded to Draco who nodded back. "Are you well, Draco?"

It was jarring. For so long, Draco had hated his father for attempting to push Draco into a path he really wasn't suited for and didn't want to do. Then his father had pursued him when Draco had fled, berating him and trying to get him to come back. Draco had refused and it had gone downhill from there. The reconciliation was new and still felt fragile. But the fact that his father of all people called him 'Draco' instead if his birth name helped. Which was likely the point.

"I don't know." Draco admitted. "I am not as angry. The deep rooted triggers in my psyche are being eased. They promise me that I won't even need drugs. The swords say my rhythms are calmer, and that is good. But we will just have to see. I do feel a bit helpless, ensconced in the machine while Jesse is roaming."

"You know they won't let her leave the Citadel without you, Draco." His father said calmly. "She is a new -vulnerable- sister and she needs time to come to grips with everything. Hence the surveillance."

"But they _also_ need to let _her_ come to grips with everything which is why they didn't interfere when she pushed herself too far." Nyx agreed. "They will not let her come to harm. But she does need to know her limits."

"And the only way to learn that is by experience. Yes, Ma'am." Draco smiled at his mother and she smiled back. But then his smile fell as he looked at his father. "Dad, I..."

"Draco, what will be, will be." The First Chroma said quietly. "They are on the right track. I had hoped that the others would retreat. Would learn to live in peace. But they can't. it is not in their nature." Draco slumped a bit and his father laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Not your fault or mine. I found a better way. Admittedly by _someone_ knocking me for a loop with a burst of mental energy so she could capture and study me." His tone was wicked and Nyx actually blushed. Draco shook his head, but he was smiling as Nyx slid up to his father and... He looked away.

"I had no idea." Nyx said with a sigh. "You were a surprise to all of us. And then... you _joined_ us." Her tone became a purr.

"And the rest as they say, is _history_." Choma agreed. Draco dared a glance at his parents and looked away, his face starting to turn red. There were some things that even Tenno parents should not _do_ in front of their son.

"You two, I swear..." Trinity scowled from the bed where Jesse slumbered. "Get a _room_." Her glare had all three of the others freezing. "If you wake Jesse, I _will_ hurt you." No threat that. A promise.

"How is she, Trinity?" Draco focused on the shade and Jesse.

"Exhausted, but whole." Trinity said with a frown. "She has had too many shocks. Even Tenno can be driven past the point of no return. We will need to keep an eye on her. Raven does her best, but since Elenia had to leave, Jesse runs rings around the Elder. Not 'quite' a space hamster on stims like Mari, but close."

"Right." Draco sighed deeply and then knelt by the bed. "Mom? Dad? I need to stay with her."

"And _we_ need to talk to some people." Nyx agreed. "Draco... if this goes badly..."

"I treasure what I had. What I have." Draco said softly. "I never doubted your love for me. My anger made it hard for me to see things. But I never doubted."

"Be well, Draco." Nyx said as she bowed and vanished.

"I regret many things, Draco." Chroma said softly. "So many. But driving you away was the worst. I hope you feel better. I hope you find a new and better way."

"I hope to see you both again." Draco said sadly. "But we know our duty."

"Yes we do." Chroma's reply was just as sad. "You make me proud, _Draco_."

"To _you_? My name is Edwin." Draco said softly. Chroma jerked but then bowed and vanished as well.

"That was kind, Draco." Trinity said softly from where she sat, still working to keep Jesse calm.

"He is my dad." Draco fought the huskiness that entered his voice. "I don't always like him. But he is my dad. Who cares where he came from?"

"Others will." Trinity warned.

"True." Draco sighed again. "Humans always did know how to hate. Tenno learned that from them."

"And Chroma's kind learned it from us." Trinity agreed. "Now all we can do is wait."

"Yeah." Draco bowed his head.

"And hope."

* * *

 **The captured tower**

The tower bustled with activity. The shapeshifting forms were busy preparing for the inevitable Tenno response. Some of them were erecting defenses. Others were marshalling newly converted humans into positions where they would either serve as meat shields or early warning systems. The fates of their slaves were meaningless. They were only human after all.

Still others were _trying_ to gain access to the Tower systems.

"This doesn't make sense!" One of the shapeshifters complained as it worked. It's form was almost a human female. But not quite. "We accessed the main system nexus. That allowed us to shut down everything even though it fought. So how can it not be online now?"

"It should be." This one's form was an Excalibur warframe. But again, not quite. "We have life support and gravity. The rectors did not destabilize. So... There had to be something in control. The tower systems have to be in control."

"Do they?" The first speaker asked, pausing in its work. The other looked at it and the first speaker shook it's not quite human head. "Work with me here. There has to be something in control of the tower or it's vital parts fail spectacularly. Probably causing a cross dimensional implosion that will kill us all." The other nodded. "So _something_ is in control. But the Tower systems that we have control of are not. So something else must..." It went still as the lights in the room suddenly went out. "What?"

"Well reasoned." The voice was melodious. Female. Calm. But...

"Who _are_ you?" The first speaker demanded as it hit controls to no avail. The other tried to use a com unit but it just lay there inert. Disabled. "What are you _doing_?"

"What I have to." The female voice was sad but then the room filled with screams as electrical energy arced from each and every terminal into the fleshy forms seated in front of them. The screams did not last long.

By the time other shapeshifters forced the doors to the room open, neither of the two who had been working on the systems were revivable and the whole room stank.

"What is going on?" Several of the shapeshifters demanded. But there was no answer. None of them noticed a tiny calico furred form watching from a duct set high on one wall.

 _They will start using slaves to do that soon._

Matril felt sick as he stared down at the carnage. He was well trained and experienced at recon work. But this was not war. This was horror on the level of the Ancient Enemy, if not -quite- as bad.

 _I know. When they do, it is only a matter of time before they find the access that Mei used to create me._ Sadness rang in the female mental voice. _You need to find a way to flee._

 _And leave you and the others to them?_ Matril demanded. _Not going to happen. I have some explosives. I can make a mess._

 _Matril._ The female voice was flat now. _There are dozens of these things. If they get the machinery online, they will make more of themselves. Hundreds, thousands. You cannot win._

 _So?_ The cat demanded. _I can take a_ _ **lot**_ _of these evil things with me._

 _Don't throw your life away, Matril._ The new Tower systems said firmly. _We need you._

 _You have seen what they are doing!_ Matril snapped. _We can't just..._

Everything came to a stop as two golden forms appeared in the middle of the room where the two shapeshifters had just died. A Nyx Prime warframe and a Choma Prime warframe. But... shades.

 _What the hell?_


	11. Chapter 11

**Animals**

Matril stared down at the scene that had suddenly unfolded below him. He didn't dare move despite the height of the duct and the fact that it was far too small for anything human sized to enter. For a moment, none of the Forgotten moved. The golden shades stood there, waiting. Finally Chroma spoke.

"You know who I am." The long dead Tenno said quietly. None of the shapeshifters moved and he sighed. "This doesn't need to end in blood."

"You will serve." The voice from one of the shapeshifters was subtly _wrong_. Matril wasn't sure _how_ it was wrong. He just knew it was.

"I _do_ serve." The Chroma countered. "But what you are doing is wrong. I realized that. So can you. It is not too late. Not yet." Was he begging? None of the shapeshifters moved and he shook his head slowly. "Do you even know _why_ you do what you do?"

"We are what we are." The Forgotten replied as the others spread out a bit. They were going to do something, Matril realized. But what could they do against ghosts?

"Are you?" Chroma snapped. "Do you even _remember_ what you were? What happened to you and why?" The Nyx laid a hand on the Chroma's arm and the Chroma slumped a bit.

"You will serve." The Forgotten said firmly as the door behind it opened and another shapeshifter carried a piece of machinery into the room. Matril did not recognize it, but the mind that had been helping him _did_.

 _That is a soul catcher!_ The tower systems that had been created to stymie the Forgotten nearly screamed. _They are going to try and hold the shades! But, this other energy... Oh no! Matril! RUN!_

The cat tried. It was too late. Before he could even turn, sickly looking brown energy flared from the machine. It flowed to where the two shades stood calmly and...

 **Later**

Matril hurt. Every fiber of his being hurt. It wasn't physical, but all he could do was curl into a ball and sob. He jerked as hands picked him up and held him.

"Easy." The voice was female and kind. "We didn't know you were there." Matril stared up at... a Nyx Prime warframe. He hands were gentle as she stroked his fur. Something seemed to pass between them and he relaxed as the pain ebbed and faded. She continued to pet him. "Sorry."

"What..." Matril stopped. He hadn't meant to speak. What was going on?

"We are trying to avert a bloodbath." The Nyx said calmly as if Matril's words had been audible. Maybe to her, they had been. "We didn't know you were there. We didn't plan on bringing you along for the ride."

"Ride?" The tiny fur covered recon trooper asked, dazed. "I don't understand."

"I know." The Nyx said calmly. "What is your name?" She asked. "Mine is Nyx." She continued to pet.

"Nyx?" Matril asked, confused. "The First?" Nyx nodded and Matril sighed. "Matril... I... This is all wrong."

"I know." Nyx said sadly. "The others want blood for what the Forgotten have done. I can't really blame them. But the Forgotten are not evil. Not for the sake of being evil anyway. They are simply doing what they were bred to do."

"Seem pretty evil to me." Matril said sourly as his body relaxed in the First Nyx's hands.

"Yeah, I know." Nyx agreed sadly. "The thing is, they evolved. They do not know how or why. But they did. All they knew for the first parts of their existence was fear and pain, anger and loss. They are not human, they never were. Then they were confused and when they sought answers, people attacked them. Humans and Tenno alike." Nyx heaved a sigh. "I did too."

"You did, but you were different." The voice of the Chroma came from nearby and Matril looked to see the other warframe striding close. "Nyx, we were _animals_. We had the potential of sentience, but we _were_ animals. You know this."

"I..." Nyx bowed her head. "It feels wrong, Chroma."

"I know." Matril's eyes went huge as the Chroma warframe faded and... a human stood there who _wasn't_ one. He looked close to human, but he _wasn't_. He looked like one of the Forgotten! "Matril, is it?" Chroma asked calmly.

"Yes." Matril said cautiously. "You are one of them."

"I was. Once." Chroma said softly. "I changed. We hope _they_ can. If the Tenno charge in, many will die. Humans that have been enslaved and Forgotten alike. Probably even some Tenno. They do not understand, so we are trying to make them understand."

"How?" Matril felt faint. Was the Nyx doing something to him?

"You are hurt." Nyx said sadly. "We didn't know you were there. I am easing you."

"How bad?" Matril asked, worry trying to rise. It faded.

"Your mind was ripped from your body." Nyx said sadly. Matril felt fear, but it too faded. "We knew they would try to trap us. They are single minded in their needs. It took a lot of power to reverse the entrapment, but we have been saving power for a long, long time. The field was attuned to them, but you were too close." Chroma petted him as well, his hand awkward, but the comfort clear.

"What will happen to me?" Matril asked after a moment.

"If we can finish this quickly? Nothing." Chroma said softly. "It will be a fever dream. A fragment of nightmare. I will get started." He retracted his hand and strode off. Matril lost sight of him. That shouldn't have been possible for the tiny soldier's trained and augmented eyes, but it happened.

"And if you can't do it quickly?" Matril asked. Nyx slumped and Matril had his answer. "Then don't rush." He said firmly.

"Matril..." Nyx sounded almost in tears.

"Nyx, I am a solder." Matril said softly. "The Feline Corp knows about duty."

The Feline Corps had begun as an Orokin experiment. For many, the sheer lunacy of putting human scale sentience into something the size of a house cat would have stopped the plan in its tracks. But not the Orokin. Oh no. It hadn't been one of the _bad_ experiments. The cats had been well treated, given educations and allowed to do anything that they wished. Up until the Empire as a whole had discovered them anyway. The public outcry had been extreme. The uplift program had been shut down. But not entirely.

The surviving cats had been... annoyed. As anyone who had ever owned cat could tell you, that was never a good thing. After all, _dogs_ had owners. Cats had _staff_. Suddenly, the cats were without their staff and it was heading towards a meltdown of cat-astophic proportions when one of the sons of the reigning Emperor had gotten involved. Many thought that Prince Grodin had been bored. Or looking for something to distract his parents from something he had done. Or _something_. But he _had_ gotten involved and with him, the Royal Family. He had promised the cats to find something that they could do.

He did.

The Feline Corps did not exist. Orokin bioengineers had created all kinds of creatures better suited to living in environments away from Earth. Cats were relegated to the history books. Mostly. No one saw them. That was intentional. They were _the_ best trained reconnaissance troops in existence. They could go places and do things that no human sized form could. They were smarter than even the smartest AI and they were as adaptable as humans. Add a touch of technological augmentation and they became _scary_.

None of that had helped when Orokin fell. During the collapse, the Feline Corps had been left on Earth, their remit to watch and wait for their commanders to return. To develop intelligence and work to protect the world as best they could. For such tiny forms, they did a wonderful job, especially considering that their augmentation allowed them to hack most electronic systems from a distance as easily as a trained being might pick an ancient lock. The Grineer never did figure out why so many arsenals had a tendency to detonate with no warning whatsoever on the continent that had once been Europe. But in the end, they were cats.

When the Grineer had begin large scale defoliation with the Cicero toxin, the Feline Corps' base had been exposed. Their augmentation had allowed them to survive the toxin, but the clones with guns had been far more problematic. Over a thousand Feline Corps operatives had called home the nest that Matril had been born in. _Five_ of them had survived the Grineer purge. Two of those had gone to Avalon to start a breeding program. The other three had gone to _war_. The Grineer had learned to _fear_ the tiny shadows. The cats' augmentation was not _just_ for hacking.

"Matril." Nyx hugged the cat to her chest gently. "We will do what we can. They need me though. They are going to see the past as it happened. Hopefully, the other Forgotten will understand. Let us explain. You will see things and hear things that will bother you. I know you are good. I know you are Feline Corps and secrecy is what you do. But there are limits. If you cannot continue, I will make you sleep. And..." She gave a sob. "If worst comes to worst, you just won't wake up."

"Thank you." Matril snuggled closer to the armored chest. It didn't feel like metal. It felt alive. Stood to reason. Warframes were bioarmor.

She held him as the world shifted around them.

 **Memory**

He was aware. He was strong. It was what he was. He knew he was the strongest, that all other life was his prey. He hadn't always known. Things had been...unclear before. Fear and pain predominated. A call. Someone had demanded his presence. He had fought it of course. He was no one's plaything. But the call had been too strong.

For a time, it had been all right, if vexing. The lesser forms had made way for him. There were several forms who he shied away from instinctively. One that was huge and liked to jump around. One that had an odd sharp thing in the place of her arm. Another...felt familiar. That one wasn't hostile to him for some odd reason and he felt something for it. It turned invisible when he tried to pursue, tried to find answers and he had been unable to find it. Then he traced the being's dim scent to a place where prey had congregated. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew that the prey had trapped the odd thing that he felt kinship to. The prey had _taken_ it! He had howled his grief and rage and others had joined him.

His anger had known no bounds and the prey had fallen before him in droves. He fed and killed and fed more. But it did not sate his rage. He was savaging another prey when it happened. There was no warning. One moment, he was striking with his claws, tearing into the bleating thing at his feet, the next, he was on the ground. An odd whirring sound came as he rolled away, screaming as pain flared in his shoulder and side. He rolled away as something struck the dirt beside him and flew away back to the hand of...

 _Another_ predator! But...it looked like _prey_! Then a part of the predator flew and another of his kind fell, cut in half as the predator turned to face _him_. As hurt as he was, all he could do was flee. He jumped into running water, but another pain flared in his back. A loud sound came from behind him and he fell into the water uncontrolled. The water was deep and carried him away. Her fought it of course. He lost.

When he woke, the call was gone. He tried to move and could not. Pain came from his back. From his shoulder. From his side. He stared down at the blue blood that seeped into the dirt around him. Was he dead? Dying? No. But he was hurt. He managed to scramble up and into a forest that was just off the beach. He would recover.

Time blurred. The forest was his home. He knew every tree, every rock. Anything that entered was his prey. Four legs or two, he ate well. It was... peaceful when prey was not there. When no loud noises disturbed him. When hunger did not wake him to stalk and kill. He was... He had no words.

Then it happened. He was watching as a tiny golden thing came to rest on the beach where he had woken so long ago. The two forms that stepped were prey. But... not. He hissed as he recognized the predator who had hurt him so badly and backed away into the forest. But that one did not enter his domain. No, what entered his domain was _fascinating_. He watched as the prey that was not prey walked around. She... He was certain somehow that it was a female, although he had no idea _how_ he knew that. It made noises like the bleating of prey, but they made no sense to him so he ignored them.

Wait a moment! Why was he on the ground? Why were his limbs not working?

The prey that wasn't stepped up and her hand came down to his face.

 _I am sorry._ The words thundered into his mind. The feelings. The worry. The fear. For _him?_ The compassion. He stared up at the golden visage that bent over him and tried to hiss, but it wouldn't come. The voice that wasn't one from the prey that wasn't prey came again. _I won't hurt you._ _Rest now._

Something he couldn't define swept over him. It felt... good. He relaxed and slept.

"Nyx, it is an _animal!_ " The words came to him as if from far away. The words... made sense. The bleating of prey had been some form of communication! They had been trying to communicate! It hadn't made sense before. Now it did.

"Do _not_ try to argue that with me, Hayden." Somehow, he knew the voice. It was the one who had come into his forest. The one who had caught him. "We are all animals. Every one of us."

"You didn't see what they did in Lasria, Nyx." The other voice stopped suddenly. He sounded wary now. "I am sorry, Nyx. I had no right to say that."

"Get. Out." The voice of the female was suddenly sad. He didn't like that. She shouldn't be sad.

"I will be watching, Nyx." The other said firmly and then a hiss sounded. But not a snake. Nothing he knew.

"Damn him." The female sounded as if she were grieving. He knew grief. He had felt grief when others of his kind had fallen to prey. But it had always turned to rage quickly. Why was this odd female not angry? Something touched his arm and he jerked. A noise came from her, not fear -he knew that noise well-, but something similar. "Dang. We woke you. I am sorry." The touch... stroked his arm. He couldn't _move_ and fear blossomed. "It's all right. Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you. Or... _I_ won't. I just need to know where you came from. You are nothing like any of the other Infected we know of. The Stingers and Chroma. We need to know where you came from. I swear it won't hurt."

He didn't understand any of this. Curious. He had always been curious. He had observed in his forest. It wasn't all hunting prey. Sometimes after he had been sated, he had just watched. Was she prey? Not prey? She wasn't acting like a predator. Was she with kits? A mother? No, no smell of that. Mothers were dangerous to be around, even the tiniest. The slightest provocation would see an unwary predator torn limb from limb if they got too close to the littlest ones before they were weaned and let out. He had seen a tiny winged creature battle a huge four legged form that had encroached his territory. He had been stalking the four legged one to kill it, but the tiny winged form had driven it away before he could do so. He gave that tiny winged form's nest a _wide_ berth.

"You _feel_..." The female voice said slowly. "This is... I thought I felt you in the forest. But _this_?" The touch moved to his head. He tried to bite, but his face was held in something. "No, no. Don't struggle. Easy."

He was not prepared for what happened. It was as if a floodgate opened. Inside his head. From her sudden gasp of fear, the female didn't expect it either. He whimpered as pain flared, _inside his skull_. But there was nothing he could do but ride the pain.

"What the hell?" The female sounded scared now. But not for herself? For _him?_ "What have I _done_? This isn't right. I was just trying to read... Oh no." The flow stopped abruptly and he jerked in whatever held him. It felt...right and wrong.

He lay panting. He was... it was... His mind was awash in images. In feelings. He wasn't...It wasn't...

"Please." The female was begging him. How did he know that? "Please be okay. I didn't want to hurt you! It isn't your fault!" She was crying. He didn't like that sound. He forced his mouth to move and it did, sort of. But it was closed, he couldn't open it. He snarled a little, but not in anger. In worry as the female cried.

It wasn't her fault! He had to tell her that. It was something in him! No one's _fault._ Something had happened. He had to tell her.

But how?


	12. Chapter 12

**Annoyed**

This was intolerable.

He had fallen asleep and when he had woken, he was in a room with no way out. It wasn't small. But there was no way out. A pile of soft things lay in one corner. A small _thing_ that looked and smelled like dirt was in another. This made no sense to him at all. Where was the sad female? He needed to find a way to communicate with her! He had... some kind of link to her. Or something. He had definitely felt a connection with her. Or something. She was familiar. What had the others called her? Nyx?

He sat in the middle of the room and pondered what had happened. Things were not as they had been. His mind was awhirl with things that he had no names for. But one thing he did know. The prey he had hunted and killed... they had been attempting communication. Their 'bleating' had been some kind of communication. So...

He examined himself as best he could. Nothing seemed out of place. Nothing seemed wrong or different. But everything was.

The walls were solid metal. He examined each in detail. He wasn't sure what he was looking for or even _if_ he was looking for anything at all. This was all new to him. The place didn't smell. At all. Not even of him. Which was wrong in so many ways. He knew his own smell. But he didn't now. Or, he didn't smell as he had. He smelled something on his skin that wasn't familiar. He finished his examinations and moved to the center of the room. There he sat. His eyes flashed from side to side as he waited.

If there was one thing a successful hunter learned, it was patience. Prey was easily startled, leading to time consuming and exhausting chases. Those could be enjoyable at times, but not when one was starving. His thoughts slithered to a sudden halt. He wasn't hungry. Why wasn't he hungry? He had been awake for some time, moving carefully but all over. So he should be hungry. But he wasn't.

There were no identifiable smells and he wasn't hungry. This wasn't right. He uncoiled himself from the floor and jumped as high as he could. He stared up at the ceiling far above his head and then around himself again. The light was wrong. He had never seen such light before. It wasn't anything he knew. He sank back to the floor and focused himself. It didn't work. He tried to open his mouth as the prey had done in their bleating, but none of the noises they had made came out. He kept trying.

He woke. He had fallen asleep! But... he hadn't been tired! He stared around and focused on a flat thing that lay on the ground near one wall. It hadn't been there before. It had things on it. Odd looking things. Smells came from them. They smelled odd. He stared around, but nothing else seemed to have changed. He rose to a crouch and took a slow, careful step towards the new thing. Nothing happened and he continued. But there was a feeling now. He didn't know why or how. But he knew he was being watched. He did not like the feeling.

He bent down to sniff the flat thing and the odd things on it. None of them smelled bad. They were just different. Was this food? For so long, he had eaten his prey while it struggled. One thing had water in it. He tasted it and spit it out. It tasted _wrong_. He growled and backed away from the flat thing, resuming his place in the-

 **Flash**

"Why didn't he eat?" The voice was familiar. Nyx. Worried. He tried to vocalize. Tried to move. He couldn't. He was lying on his side. How had he fallen asleep this way? It was uncomfortable, but he couldn't move no matter how hard he tried.

" _It_ , Nyx." Another female voice. Sterner. Harder. He didn't like her. "Not a _'he'_ , an _'it'_." Nyx growled. He found he liked her even more than he had. This female was not to be trifled with.

" _He_ has male characteristics, Mag."Nyx replied coldly. "Unless you want me to start calling _you_ an _it_ , I suggest you _back_ the _frack_ off."

"Nyx." The other sighed. "You are emotional. You mind linked to it. It did something to you." He made a noise and the voice exclaimed. "Nyx! Out!"

"No." Nyx snapped. "He could have hurt me and he didn't. In the forest and after. He was trying not to hurt me. He was trying to understand. Mag, if you trust _nothing_ else I say, _please_ trust that. He _isn't_ _mindless_ _!_ "

"Do you have _any_ idea how _crazy_ you sound?" Mag's voice was sour. "I cannot leave you alone with it. Him." She corrected herself as Nyx made a noise of protest. "You are still sick. Hayden shouldn't have let you go out, even supervised."

"Trinity cleared me, Mag." Nyx said with a sigh as something touched his arm and eased him to a more comfortable position. "I don't remember all of what happened with Rasputin, but I do remember what he was doing. Then... this." Hate sang in her voice and he recoiled a little. She _was_ angry. But not with him. "I did this. It is _my_ fault. _I_ did this. I do not know how or why but I did this to him. I need..." The sheer pain in her words called to him. He forced his body to move despite whatever was holding it. It took most of his strength to open his mouth, to force air through it.

"No." The voice was not right. It didn't sound anything like any of the others he had heard. But the word was simple and clear. Sudden silence fell. "No."

"No _what_?" Nyx asked, her tone somewhere between awed and scared.

"No." He tried to convey that she wasn't at fault. That is wasn't her fault. That _he_ had changed somehow. That... A touch on his cheek had him freezing. Mag hissed but he did not react.

"You do not have the words." Nyx said softly. _So let's try a more direct way. No_ _what_ _?_

 _No you._ He worked to focus. _No cry. No fault._ Pain erupted in his skull and he heard Nyx cry out in protest as the world started to fall away.

 _ **STOP!**_ The word was inaudible but _loud_. He jerked back to awareness. Nyx knelt on the ground, holding him as he lay. He opened his eyes and went still. This wasn't the Nyx he had seen before. But it was her. He could tell. Somehow. This not prey being wore no armor. An odd thing surrounded her head. He smelled sickness on her. Pain. Another form stood nearby, an odd oblong thing in its hands. _**Kill him and you kill me too! He is trying to**_ _ **help**_ _ **!**_

"Nyx, stand down." He knew that voice. The voice of the _other_ predator. The one Nyx called Hayden. The one who had hurt him so badly before. It came from nearby and he turned his head to see the armored form standing there, it's odd throwing thing in hand. "You are empathizing with an _Infected!_ You are _sick_ , sister."

"You can't _hear_ him, Hayden!" Nyx was crying now and he didn't like that. His hands came up. Both of the others tensed, but he slowly wrapped his arms around the sobbing woman and held her, his claws away from her.

"No cry, Nyx." He said as clearly as he could, which wasn't very clear. "Bad. Wrong. No cry." He looked at the one called Hayden. "You..." He sought through his mind and found the right word. "Predator. Nyx hurting. Predator hurt Nyx? No hurt Nyx."

"What the _fuck_?" This from the other female who hadn't moved. He ignored her and Hayden, easing his body so he could hold Nyx carefully.

"Sick." He said sadly. "No cry, Nyx. No cry." Nyx just hugged him tighter.

"Let her go. Now." Hayden commanded. He didn't want to. Nyx was still crying. But he did as instructed. Nyx tightened her grip. "Nyx, let him go. You made your point." His throwing disk vanished. He nodded to the other. "Mag. He isn't faking that."

"You don't _know_ that!" Mag protested, not lowering her weapon.

"Nyx sick." He said sternly. "Nyx hurt. No hurt!" He declared. He stared down at the woman who was holding him. "Nyx. Go."

"No!" Nyx protested as he slowly and carefully eased himself out of her grip, wary of his claws.

"Nyx hurt." He said sadly. "Nyx no hurt." He begged the others. "Nyx... no hurt?"

"I don't understand." Hayden said softly. "Nyx? What is he asking?" A whisper of thought touched his mind and he felt relief. She understood.

"He thinks I am hurt." Nyx looked at the floor. "He wants you to help me."

" _Are_ you hurt, Nyx?" Hayden asked softly. Nyx would not meet his gaze and Hayden looked at the not human form. "Is she?"

"Nyx hurt." He raised a slow hand and tapped the back of her head with the backside of a claw. Nyx jerked and started to cry harder. He held her as she sobbed. "No hurt."

"No." Hayden had an odd look on his face, half smile, half frown. "No hurt."

 **A fairly tense ten minutes later**

He didn't like Mag. The feeling was reciprocated. Nyx did not return and he missed her. A lot. It made no sense at all, but he really missed her. Mag? He would have killed and eaten her without a second thought if given the chance. She was _annoying_.

"First, you wouldn't shut up and now you won't talk." The armored woman was playing with something shiny. It looked kind of like a claw made of metal. Sort of. He watched her warily. She was angry. Very angry. "I bet I can make you talk."

The other male had led Nyx from the room somehow. He hadn't seen how they had left. One moment, they had been there. The next, they had been gone. He had retreated to one wall while Mag stood near the pile of soft things. He was ready. She would move soon. Attack. He knew she could kill him. But he would fight.

"Mag." The voice of the predator Hayden stilled everything. "Nikis' next lesson is in twenty minutes. You better get ready."

"Hayden." Mag wasn't quite whining, but it was close. "What the hell are you playing at? Nyx is a mess. I can see her being off. But _you_? You saw these things. You fought these things. How the hell can you act like this?"

"Mag." Hayden's voice was soft as he strode to where she stood. "The first thing I was ever taught was to observe. I know the Marines taught you the same. Recon first. Then plan. _Then_ act. Yes?"

"Yes?" Mag drawled the word out into several syllables.

"We need more information." Hayden said quietly. "Nyx was acting oddly, yes. Trinity didn't find anything wrong. Until just now." Mag froze and Hayden nodded. "Nyx was bleeding inside her skull. Right where our guest tapped her."

" _He_ did it." Mag snarled and her metal fang was held ready. He readied himself to fight.

"No, Mag." Mag wasn't the only one to stiffen at Hayden's soft and sad tone. "Trinity just got out of surgery and the results are clear. Trinity's previous repairs were good. But Nyx moved too soon. She pushed herself too hard and too far. A blood vessel tore. Not much, but enough. None of us would have caught it in time." He turned to look at the still form on the other side of the room. "Our guest saved her life by warning us. By making me take her to Trinity despite her wishes."

"Hayden, that isn't possible." Mag protested. "He is an _Infected_!"

"Yes, he is." Hayden agreed. "But we need to find out what _else_ he is." He shook his head. "Go on, Nikis was making noises about learning Calculus. Wouldn't put it past him."

"Sheesh, that kid..." This time, he saw it happen. Mag...phased. One moment, she was standing there. The next, she was transparent. And the next, she was gone.

"Okay." Hayden sat at the wall where he had been standing, looking at the other. "Mag is a pain, but she does love her sister. What did you do to Nyx?"

"Not... know." He made a noise of confusion. "Not... clear. Information not mine." Hayden stiffened and the other slumped a bit. "Not fault. Nyx good."

"Yeah." Hayden agreed. "Yeah, she is. Opinionated as hell and ethical to a fault. She wanted you alive which is the only reason you are. _I_ would have killed you."

"You predator." The other replied calmly. "Is way." Hayden looked at him but the other did not react. "Strong survive, weak perish."

"Then why help Nyx?" Hayden demanded. "Your kind killed many people in Lasria. Your kind nearly killed _me_ many times. No one knows how many people died in that forest."

"Nyx not _weak_." The other scoffed. "Nyx strong female. Hurt, sick. But strong." Hayden stared at him and the other mimicked a motion of his shoulders that he had seen the others do. He didn't do it quite right from Hayden's expression. "Nyx...different. Not prey. Not predator. Something else?" He queried.

"Yeah." Hayden said softly. "She wants to defend. Not kill."

"She not like you." The other said softly. "She not like me. She _better_." Hayden went still and the other looked at him. "No understand all words. What say wrong?"

"Why didn't you attack her as soon as she stepped into the forest?" Hayden asked, seeming to ignore the question. "That was what your kind did. As soon as your territory was breached, you attacked."

"Not know." The other replied. "She different."

"Different?" Hayden said slowly. "How so?"

"She...feel like another." The other sentient in the room said slowly. "Not prey. She not old like other, but she not prey."

"What _other_?" Hayden asked softly. The predator did not miss his sudden tension but he did not react. Outwardly anyway.

"Not know." The other replied evenly. "Not like others. Larger. Smart. She hide. But prey capture. Take."

"Prey is the wrong word." Hayden said softly. The other looked at him and Hayden shrugged. "The two legged forms you hunted and killed are called 'humans'. I was one, before."

"Not know this word 'human'." He rolled the word around his tongue and shook his head. "Not prey?" He asked Hayden.

"No." Hayden said flatly and the other nodded.

"Not understand." The other curled up on the floor and shook his head. "No hurt Nyx."

"No, you didn't." Hayden agreed. "She didn't know how bad it was either. But you and she shared something and we need to know what it was. What did she do?"

"She touch." The other tapped his skull gently. "Hurt. Images. Feelings. Words. No understand all." He shook his head. "No hurt Nyx. Not fault."

"I am not going to hurt Nyx." Hayden said firmly. "I _will_ speak loudly to her, for scaring us all. But I won't hurt her. She is my daughter."

"What is 'daughter'?" The other asked slowly. Hayden stared at him and the other shrugged as Hayden had. "Not know this word."

"Family. Offspring." Hayden said quietly. "Female child of parent."

"You are parent?" The other asked, confused. Nyx looked _nothing_ like Hayden.

"Sort of." Hayden grimaced. "It is complicated. But she is my daughter. A member of my clan. I will protect her."

"That good." The other replied calmly. "Family. Understand family. But family gone."

"Gone _where_?" He did not miss Hayden's sudden tension.

"Not know." The other sighed deeply and lay down completely. "All gone. No others. But you? We meet. Before." Hayden stared at him and the other nodded. "You throw metal thing. Slice." He patted his shoulder and side. "Fall in water. Dragged long way."

"That is not possible." Hayden said slowly. "The only one of your kind who did not fall where I could confirm the death was shot."

"Heal." The other said quietly. "Long time hurt. But heal."

"Huh." Hayden shook his head. "This is all interesting. But right now, I only have one question. What do you want with Nyx?" The other nodded to Hayden and answered calmly.

"She make good mate."

 **The present**

Matril jerked awake. He was hurting again. But he controlled the pain through the skill of long practice. Instead, he listened.

"They are not getting it, Chroma." Nyx was crying. "I am trying. I am trying to do what I remember us doing, but it is not getting _through_. To them, _we_ are animals. Smart animals, but _only_ animals."

"We have to keep trying, Nyx." Chroma sounded sad and sick himself. "If we can't..." He made a sad noise. "I don't want to lose any Tenno kin or any of them. They are the last of their kind as far as anyone has determined. Killing them all is wrong."

"What are you trying to show them?" Matril asked, his voice slurring. Nyx gave a small cry and gentle hands held him, easing the pain away.

"Matril, you need to sleep." Nyx said carefully. "If you are awake, it goes faster. The degradation. Come on, go back to sleep."

"I can help." Matril said softly. "If they think everyone _else_ is an animal, I can help."

"What?" Nyx asked as her hands petted, soothing, calming.

"What am I, Nyx?" Matril asked softly. "In form?'

"You are _not_ just a cat!" Nyx pleaded. "Come on, Matril. Go to sleep."

"I know that." Matril said softly. " _You_ know that. They _don't_." But darkness reached up and took him.

"Nyx."

"No, Chroma."

"We can't save him."

"You don't _know_ that!"

"Nyx..."

"I... Please don't make me choose his life or ours, Chroma. I can't _do_ that. He would say to let him die. He _has_. But... it is wrong."

"We need to continue, Nyx. Maybe the rest will get through."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then I guide Hayden and Nikis in. You know what they will do."

"I am sorry, Chroma. I wanted to help."

"So did I."


	13. Chapter 13

**Looking for something**

" _Mate_...?"

Hayden hadn't moved. At all. "You did _not_ just ask that."

"She not pr-..." The other paused and shook his head as he had seen the others do. "She not 'human'." He emphasized the word. "Me not human. She sad. She sick. She angry. Me no like her angry." Hayden just looked at him and he sighed as he had seen the others do. "No understand. She hurting. She hurt." Hayden still did not move and the other slumped a bit. "Want help Nyx. Must help Nyx. She... special."

"I am _not_ hearing this..." Hayden's voice was low. Prey -no, he had to keep calling them 'humans' or Hayden got upset- would not have heard it. The other _did_. "I _cannot_ be hearing this." The human looking male in armor gave himself a shake. "Later. For now, you need to eat." He waved to the flat thing on the floor. "What was wrong with the water?"

"Tasted wrong." The other sidled away from the tray, keeping Hayden in view for all the good it would do. Hayden stared at him and then at the tray. "Not know if bad. Just wrong."

"Not what you were used to in the forest." Hayden said quietly. "The water here is distilled, pure. No chemicals or bacteria or anything else." He paused and then rose slowly and stepped to where the water sat on the flat thing. He bent down and dipped a finger in it. He tasted the water on his finger and then spit it out. Then he sighed. "No, you are right. Bad." He shook his head. "I will get you some clean water." He vanished, leaving the other to stare at where he had been.

How did the others do that? He wasn't sure. They were there. But then they were not. It was- His thoughts came to a crashing halt as a tiny sound came from behind him. He spun in place to see Nyx lying on the pile of soft things. She was curled up and she looked...wrong.

"Nyx?" He asked softly. He was worried. She didn't look right. She didn't smell right. She tilted her head and looked at him before lying back on the pile and to all appearances falling asleep. He moved to check her and she breathed. But... she smelled wrong. Sharp. It wasn't anything he knew. "Nyx." He placed himself close to the pile, but far enough away not to threaten. Just there. Nyx sighed in her sleep and remained still. "Rest Nyx. No hurt."

He was in motion before he was fully awake. Whatever had made him sleep before had happened again, but this time, Nyx was screaming. Rage or pain, it mattered not at all. He spun in a complete circle, but no one else was visible. Nothing was hurting Nyx. But she was crying and screaming as she writhed on the pile of soft things. He shook his head a bit. He didn't know what to do. But he had to do _something_.

He lay down beside Nyx and slowly, carefully eased his clawed hands around her. She felt his touch and quieted. Whatever was hurting her would stop if it had any sense whatsoever. It would fear his wrath. She jerked and then her eyes opened. She stared at him, her eyes huge and then, with a tiny cry she embraced him.

"Rest Nyx." He said softly. "No hurt."

"I..." Nyx slumped into him, seeming exhausted. "I didn't mean to..."

"Rest." He rumbled as he held her. She quieted in his arms and relaxed. In moments, she was asleep again.

 **Elsewhere**

"You cannot be serious, Hayden." The female voice was sharp and angry. He tried to rise, tried to growl. But nothing came. He couldn't move. Couldn't see. "I don't care what Nyx says. She had head trauma. She is still confused. It is an animal. You saw them in Lasria."

"Which is why you tried to poison him." Hayden's voice was flat. "Lynn... Whatever Nyx did, it isn't the same as the ones in Lasria. It isn't one of the ones who stalked and killed your team. Yes, it is an Infected. Yes, it killed people. But it also cares for Nyx. You see her with him. You see him with her. Can you deny that there is something between the two of them?"

"We never should have let her go out so soon." The female snapped. "She wasn't _ready_. Wasn't healed. She was and _is_ confused. She doesn't understand what is happening."

"Doc." Hayden's voice was flat now. "If you think that, you have a hell of a shock coming. I don't _like_ this, mind you. But I can see what is happening. They are bonding."

"Hayden!" The other protested. "That isn't possible!"

"No?" Hayden asked softly. "Look at Banshee and Excalibur. Look at Volt and Saryn. Then look at Nyx and our guest. How are they different?"

"It was never _human_ , Hayden." The female snapped.

"So?" Hayden retorted. "Then you never loved your cat. _Or_ your dog." The other was silent and Hayden continued. "He is an animal, yes. But Nyx did something. We need to figure out _what_. Are the scans done?"

"Yes." The other sounded resigned now. But hate sang just under the surface.

"And?" Hayden pressed. The other did not reply and Hayden sighed. "Trinity, come on."

"The DNA is different. Not human at all." The one called Lynn or Trinity sounded tired now. "Nyx is the one who can read minds, Hayden. All I can read is biochemistry. And having this so close is giving me the absolute _creeps_."

"Is he infectious?" Hayden asked.

"No." Trinity responded. "I checked all of that first. No vectors. Which makes _no_ sense at _all_."

"No, it doesn't." Hayden agreed. "The physical structure?"

"I don't know, Hayden." Trinity replied. "It is as if this form evolved as hunter. Or was _built_ to be one. The skin is laced with bioluminescent cells that seem to refract light." Hayden made a 'hmmm' noise and the female continued. "But it is the things on its forearms that frankly scare me. They store biological energy and can discharge it."

"Some kind of biological capacitor?" Hayden asked, worry sounding in his own tone. "They threw energy at me in Lasria. And yes, they could turn invisible."

"So we do all the scans, do a dissection and get _rid_ of this thing." Trinity said sternly. "Nyx is a _mess_. The longer this thing stays here, the worse she is getting."

"Doc..." Hayden said softly.

"She has been having nightmares ever since Rasputin took her and hurt her. She shouldn't have gone out." Trinity was one step from ranting. "Yes, being confined was bad for her, but she shouldn't have gone out."

"Doc." Hayden repeated.

"She is sick." Trinity snarled. "And this thing is not helping her. She hurt herself again trying to-" Her words broke off as Hayden sighed. "What?"

"Look at Nyx, doc." Hayden said softly. A gasp came from Trinity. "Look at where she is in the virtual world. Look at her rhythms. _Then_ tell me she is confused."

"Get her _away_ from it!" Trinity begged.

"Trinity, look at her. Not him, _her_." Hayden commanded. Trinity was silent and Hayden continued. "Look at the record. She is calm. She is resting. Her nightmare just _stopped_ as soon as she touched him."

"Hayden..." Trinity begged.

"He is helping her." Hayden said flatly. "He stays."

 **Back with Nyx**

What was going on? Had that been a dream? He didn't understand. But Nyx lay quiet in his arms. She whimpered a little and he held her gently. He stilled, her eyes were open and she was looking at him.

"I don't understand what is happening." Nyx said sadly. "I didn't want to hurt you. I just wanted to understand."

"No hurt." He reassured her.

"I did something." Nyx protested, but subsided as he hugged her gently.

"Nyx." He chided her gently. "No hurt." He paused. "Not right. How say?"

"A language lesson?" Nyx chuckled a bit wetly but then sighed and relaxed. "I need the distraction right now. It is all fear and pain. I cannot remember what happened. But it was bad." He stiffened.

"Who hurt Nyx?" He demanded.

"An evil human." Nyx said sadly. "I tried to stop him and I was captured by him. He did things to me. To my mind. I cannot remember what he did. But the pain won't go away."

"Pain body?" He asked her slowly. "Pain mind?"

"Mind." Nyx said softly. "I had to get out. I was going stir crazy sitting here doing nothing. But I didn't mean to..." She paused as he growled. "What?"

"No fault." He said flatly. "Happen. Go on. But no _fault_." He stared at her until she looked away. "No fault, Nyx." He demanded.

"I feel it is." Nyx snuggled closer to him and he let her. It didn't feel bad. Far from it.

"Want learn." He said quietly. "Teach?"

"If you can put up with my moping, I guess I can put up with you being curious." Nyx said with a smile that did not touch her eyes. "So...language. English is a pain in the butt. Many of its rules make no sense whatsoever and it 'borrows' words from other languages. But it is one of the major dominant languages. I should probably teach you Chinese and maybe Latin as well since Talia seems to want _that_ as the official language of Orokin. Which makes no sense at all to me. But for now, let's start small."

"Start small, make big." The other agreed.

 **Quite a BIT later**

"You learn so fast." Nyx said with a sigh as she sat back down. It had been some time. He wasn't sure how long. It blurred. But Nyx was happy, so he was happy.

"Someone say..." He paused. "No. Someone _said_ my body seemed as if it had been made." Nyx tensed and the other nodded. "If I _was_ , who made me? And why?" He slumped a bit. "What little I remember is... bad."

"If anyone can figure it out, we can." Nyx said as she lay one the pile of soft things. No, 'blankets', he reminded himself of the word. The dirt spot in the other corner was 'latrine' or 'privy'. So many new things. But he was happy. And more importantly? Nyx was smiling. He liked her smile. He wished he could smile as she did. "There is one thing I would like to ask."

"You have been a willing font of information for _me_." He said agreeably as he lay down beside Nyx. It felt right. "What do you want to know?"

"Do you have a name?" Nyx asked. He froze and she recoiled a little. "I didn't..."

"Don't start with the fault again, Nyx." He said quickly before she could apologize again. "You will make me cross." He put amusement in his voice and she relaxed. "It wasn't anyone's fault. I didn't plan on it. You didn't plan on it. It happened. We have to go on from there." She hugged him again and he let her. "As for a name? A descriptor of identity? No. No, I don't. I was always me. I was one of many, but I was distinct. I think we all were. But no descriptor of identity."

"Maybe we should find you a name that fits." Nyx said quietly. "I mean, you are a distinct person now."

"I am not human, Nyx." He protested.

"Neither am I." Nyx replied evenly. "I was human. Once. Then I was infected by a nasty virus and it made me who I am." He looked at her and she looked away.

"This virus." He said slowly. Nyx had explained a lot, but he found some things came naturally. Or maybe he had absorbed some of what she knew? It was hard to say. Just that he knew what a virus was. And what it had done to her. It angered him. She was _such_ a good person and the thought of her being hurt angered him. "It made me?"

"I don't know." Nyx said softly, hugging him tight enough to hurt. He didn't mind. "But probably."

"This..." He stared down at his hands with their wicked claws, so different from hers. At the bony things that extended from the backs of his forearms that she lacked. "This is _wrong_."

"Yeah." Nyx agreed. He looked at her and she flushed a bit. "What?"

"You try to stop this from happening again, don't you?" He asked softly as he held her.

"Yeah." Nyx said quietly. "Not fun, but needs to be done."

"I want to help." Nyx stared at him and he shrugged. "I seem to absorbed more from you than I thought. I wonder if it was two way? We need to find out."

"You want... _what?_ " Nyx looked pale and he held her gently.

"Whatever caused this virus must be stopped." He said softly. "Or at least contained. Can we talk to Hayden again?" Nyx stared at him and he shook his head. "I need to talk to him. And I need to apologize to the one called Trinity."

"Why?" Nyx asked, her face turning scared. "Trinity is not rational about you."

"I don't blame her."

 **Later**

"You want... _what_?" Hayden hadn't moved from where he had appeared.

"You need to find out what happened to Nyx." The not human male said quietly. "I want Nyx healed. You cannot trust me, but I want to help. Any way I can."

"Nyx, what have you _done?_ " Hayden demanded. ""Language lessons, my ass!" Nyx recoiled from Hayden's fury, but froze as the other stepped between them.

"Whatever she did was not intentional." The unnamed male said firmly. "But I seem to have absorbed some of her devotion to duty. She did not manipulate me. Do not scare her. She has been hurt _enough_!"

"You stay out of this!" Hayden rose to his feet, his face thunderous. But he froze in place as the unnamed male raised his hands. His glaive spun to life in his hand, but the other simply held out empty hands. "What...?"

"She loves you." The words hurt, but he continued. "If you must, take these... things out of my body. Curt my arms off, my legs. Study the parts. What happened was _wrong_. To you, to Nyx, to me. To Trinity." Hayden stared at him and he shrugged. "I heard you speaking to her. Truth now, Hayden Tenno. I am monster. I was made to be monster." His English was breaking. Nyx stepped forward and laid a hand on his arm, but he continued. " _I no_ _ **want**_ _be monster!_ " He shouted.

"Be calm." Nyx begged him. "It is not your fault."

"No." He agreed, calming a little. "Is virus' fault! Virus hurt you, Nyx. Virus hurt me. Me _hate_ virus." He shook his head savagely and forced his words to come out clearly. "I want to stop the virus." Then he did something unthinkable. He fell to his knees. It felt...right. "You are pack leader, Hayden Tenno. I am only a hunter. Use me as you will. But stop this virus." He bowed his head. "Please."

"Hayden..." Nyx pleaded.

"You are helping Nyx cope with what happened to her." Hayden said after a moment. "That is a good thing. But I cannot trust you."

"Then do not." The other replied. "Confine. Study. Dissect if you must." Nyx gasped, but he continued. "But stop this virus. Please." He begged again.

"We will see." He looked up to see Hayden eyeing him oddly. Then the leader of the Tenno vanished and Nyx hugged him tight, crying.

 **The Present**

Matril felt odd. He had seen things. It had seemed so real. But now? Something else was happening.

"You lie." The voice of one of the Forgotten was angry. "You try to trick us."

"No." Nyx said sadly. "What you saw was what happened. But the rest, you need to see..."

"You _lie!_ " The Forgotten snarled. "You will serve! You will be slave!" Nyx gave a sharp cry of pain and fear. Matril tried to get up, but his body wouldn't move. "We learn. We evolve! We..."

"You learn _nothing_." Matril managed to grate the words out. Sudden silence answered his words and he felt scrutiny on him. "You know _nothing_. You... have... _forgotten_... what you are..." He slumped, drained by his words in a way that being hurt or running for hours had never exhausted him. "You of all people would take slaves? Own sentient beings? You..."

"Matril, don't talk." Nyx begged him. "You are hurt."

"Don't sugar coat it, Nyx." Matril said as loudly as he could. Which wasn't very loud. "I am dying. I know it." He looked up and the Forgotten were all staring at him, as if in shock. "You think you know what it is to be a _thing_? How many of you _exist_? _I don't!_ "

"Matril..." Nyx knelt down beside him, her form corporeal wherever they were.

"Everywhere I go, I was never _there_." Matril said softly. "That is my job. I am good at it. But I do not exist. I was born to be what I am. It is all I know. All I am. All I am is a ghost. My family, _all_ of my family -my brothers, my sisters, my parents- are _dead_. I have four cohorts left in the universe. _Four!_ " What the hell do you scum know of pain? Of loss? Of rage?" Matril demanded. " _You_ can fight! My family _couldn't!_ "

"Matril, stop talking!" Nyx begged him, hands coming down to cup his form. "Please."

"Not yet." Matril said firmly as he focused his will. This was virtual. It had to be. And _that_ meant...

" _Matril, no!_ " Nyx screamed as he forced his will on the environment. It shifted around them. A lush jungle. He gasped from the effort even as Nyx tried to pull control back from him. It hurt, but he focused as the Forgotten stared around wildly.

"You think you are _better_ than everyone else? That you are more _evolved_? The _apex predator_?" Matril asked nastily as he darted into the underbrush. "You don't know what the _hell_ you are talking about!"

"Matril!" Nyx screamed, but he was gone. But his mocking voice sounded from somewhere in the shadows.

"Let's see who is the better predator, shall we?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Predators**

"What are you doing?"

Nyx stared after the vanished cat for a moment before turning to look at the Forgotten. This wasn't all of them, of course. Even her power and her husband's had limits. She was weak from pulling this group of Forgotten into her mind and holding them here. Matril had taken advantage. But why? He was dying. There was nothing she could do to save him.

"I didn't do this." Nyx waved a slow hand at the surrounding area. "I do not know where we are."

"We are on Earth, Nyx." Her husband appeared and stepped between her and the Forgotten. "This simulation is now of Earth. But you are not in control." Nyx shook her head. "Why would he wrest control from you?" The other Tenno asked.

"You lie." The Forgotten who had spoken before snarled at them. In form, it was a female human. Sort of.

"We are not in control of the simulation anymore." Nyx said sadly. 'We wanted to show you what happened to us. To Chroma and me. We wanted to make you understand that there are ways other than the one you are taking. But..." She bowed her head. "You are bent on your own destruction. Nothing I do can change that."

"You will serve!" The female looking Chosen declared.

"No." Chroma hugged Nyx gently. "We will die. With you." At that, all of the Forgotten looked at him. "This is only going to end one way now. You taking the Tower angered every single Tenno. You doing what you did to Healer Iriana fanned the fires of rage. You have laid traps. Some will succeed, most will be destroyed. You have erected defenses. But you cannot stop something that cannot be stopped." Chroma hugged Nyx gently. "Now though? You have bigger problems."

"You _lie_!" The Forgotten snapped, her hand coming up with something that glistened.

Several things happened at once. Chroma threw himself and Nyx sideway as a beam of energy played out from the odd organic machine in the Forgotten's hand. They hit the ground and rolled in different directions. A loud noise sounded and the Forgotten with the device stared down at her hand. Or... where her hand had _been_. Now it was a bloody _stump_.

"Uh, uh, _uh_." Matril's voice came from nowhere. "Taking a slave to do your fighting for you is _cheating_. Not allowed. Might want to move."

Nyx scrabbled away from the group as an explosion sounded behind her and she stared as a hurricane of wood and organic debris tore through the Forgotten's ranks. Four of them went down and they were not going to get up as torn as they were.

"Matril! Stop!" Nyx begged. But there was no one there. She couldn't sense him. She could feel the Forgotten, all dozen of them that still breathed in this virtual world. She had set the parameters so they could feel, could experience everything she had. But it also left them vulnerable. She and Chroma were just as vulnerable.

"You harm us!" The female Forgotten screamed, turning her fulminating gaze on Nyx. "You lie and harm us!"

"What _is_ it with you morons?" Matril's voice came again. " _She_ isn't in control of the simulation anymore. _I_ am. And since you scum think you are so hot, come on... find me. Catch me. Make me prey. If you _can_." His mocking laugh seemed to come from everywhere. "Nyx. Don't move. You are crawling through a minefield."

Nyx froze and stared around. She didn't... She went still as she saw tiny brown things. They were not jungle material. She wasn't sure _what_ they were. They looked kind of like... No, they _couldn't_ be cat droppings. No way. She was sure they had not been there a moment before. One of the Forgotten started toward her and placed a foot squarely on one of the tiny brown objects. She winced as an explosion tossed the Forgotten away. She winced harder as the human male looking form hit a tree and was impaled by an outthrust branch at a _very_ uncomfortable spot for a male. His screech cut off abruptly.

"Five down." Matril's voice was conversational. "Eleven to go."

"Prey!" The female Forgotten snapped. "Kill!" All of the others ran from the area where Nyx and Chroma both lay still.

"Matril..." Nyx begged, but there was no response from the cat. "Chroma?"

"Don't move, Nyx." She looked, but her husband was gone. She looked around and then up. She smiled as she saw him learning down from an overhanging branch."I am going to try and get you clear. It wasn't working, but this... They don't have a chance. They are playing right into his hands." His Effigy dropped and Nyx grabbed onto the skin's arm, pulling herself up carefully. "Come on." He encouraged her. "You can do it."

"So weak." Nyx pulled herself up the skin through sheer force of will. Chroma grabbed her and pulled her up, swinging them both up onto the branch. A scream came from the jungle and Nyx shivered. But that wasn't Matril. "How is he doing this?"

"I don't know." Chroma admitted. "He can obviously hack systems quickly. These artifacts though... I don't know what they are or how he is creating them." A explosion sounded and other voices from the jungle cried out in fear and pain. "That cat is scary."

"He is a cat." Nyx protested." He is tiny."

"Size doesn't matter, Nyx." Chroma replied, hugging her tight. "Or I never would have managed to take down the beast that gave me this pelt. It was twice my size." Another scream sounded, this one long and drawn out. Nxy shivered and Chroma held her. "It won't be long."

"I don't understand." Nyx protested. "We were trying to get them to understand. We were touching them. Some."

"They are not going to understand, Nyx." Chroma was sad. Then again, he was talking about his own distant kin. "They are all that matters in their world. They are the focus. They are the strongest. Or..." He shook his head as a sound that defied easy explanation came from the left. It wasn't a scream. It wasn't a cry of anguish. It wasn't even a whimper. It seemed to be all of these and more. Something was in pain. Serious pain. "They _were_ the strongest. Now? They have run into a better predator."

"Chroma, he is a cat." Nyx protested again. "Yes, Cats are predators, but..." She broke off as something went 'boom' not far away and a body went flying by them. It was the female Forgotten who had hurt Nyx before. Or... parts of her. The largest part landed near where Nyx had been on the ground and lay there, a soft cry of pain coming from its ruined lips. Nyx put a hand to her faceplate in sheer reflex. "Oh my god!"

"In physical form, he is a cat, Nyx." Chroma said very softly. As if afraid to speak louder. "But he isn't really one. I don't know where we are but can guess. This is where he grew up and trained on Earth, so he know the terrain." Chroma looked around and shook his head as he looked at the Forgotten. "She is not dead."

"If they die here, they get shunted back to their bodies." Nyx said weakly. "They won't be able to do much since we sped up the time while here so much. We knew it would take awhile to explain. It get the to understand. But... Chroma..." She begged. "If we don't convince them, Nikis and Hayden will kill them _all._ "

"Nyx." Chroma hugged his wife gently. "You cannot save them. They have to save themselves and they do not want to."

"They don't _understand_!" Nyx pleaded. "We have to _make_ them understand."

"Nyx..." Chroma said sadly. "You know better. We can lead them to the knowledge, but we cannot make them think. Not even _you_ have that power."

They both went still as a long, drawn out scream sounded in the distance. It faded quickly. Then the only sound in the area was the rasping breath of the Forgotten lying on the ground beneath them. Both Nyx and Chroma went still as something happened nearby. A tiny calico form stepped out of the underbrush, his eyes on the Forgotten. Nyx stared as he... went on one of the brown clumps and it _dissolved_. He took another step towards the Forgotten and it turned it's ravaged face to look at him. It's arms were gone and it's legs were tattered stumps, but it still lived.

" _Who_ is the better predator?" Matril's voice was cold and snide.

"You... cheat." The Forgotten managed to croak out.

"Well, duh." Matril went on another clump and it too dissolved. He was clearing a tiny, narrow path through the odd mines! "I fight to win."

"Why you serve them and not us?" The Forgotten sounded afraid now. Nyx didn't blame it. "You say you not exist. That your people slain. Why serve _them_?"

"They gave me the _choice_!" Matril snarled as he darted forward. The Forgotten screamed as tiny claws torn through flesh with surgical precision. But... Nyx went still as the Forgotten went limp. But... she breathed. Matril shook himself and sighed as he stared up at Nyx and Chroma. "Hi guys."

"Matril...?" Nyx asked slowly.

"It's okay, Nyx." Matril said softly as the brown objects on the ground wavered and vanished. "Safety parameters are initialized. For you two anyway." He shook his head. "None of them are dead."

"How the hell?" Nyx swallowed hard as the cat... raised a leg over the fallen Forgotten, showing his disdain for it. Then the cat stepped away from it.

"Hacking electronic is what I do, Nyx." Matril said without a trace of arrogance. "But this?" He looked around and his face was sad. "This was fun, but... this place no longer exists. The Grineer made sure of that." He sighed. "It took them five thousand clones to batter their way through our traps and defenses, but when they did, they killed everyone." He sighed again, deeper. "I know what will happen to the Forgotten, Nyx. Nikis likes Iriana and that old gunfighter could have given anyone a run for their money in sheer viciousness." He looked at the crumpled form behind him. "I know what it is to lose everything. _You_ don't. Yet." Nyx made a noise of confusion and Matril snorted. "Paralytic toxins. Not lethal but anything organic will not enjoy them. Not that great against armor, but they were not wearing any. Were they?"

Chroma held Nyx gently as he leaped from the branch to land in front of the cat. Matril nodded to her. She knelt down in front of him, extending a hand.

"I won't bite you, Nyx." Matril said softly and she petted him gently. "Releasing control." Nyx jerked and she did have control. Fifteen Forgotten life signs around the area, all unconscious or with marks of injury. None dead. For some reason, that scared Nyx even more. Matril hadn't killed any of them! The cat nodded to her. "They didn't have a chance here. This was like tossing a baby duck into a swimming pool that has a salt water _crocodile_ in it. But Nyx... You don't understand. They are not human. They never were and never will be. They will not act as humans."

"But..." Nyx protested. She stiffened as Chroma laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Nyx, I am different." Chroma said quietly. "I don't know if you did it, if I did it or if it was some deity's sick joke, but I am different. I am not human. I never was. I learned to act human, but I am not."

"I don't care!" Nyx said forlornly as she turned to hug her husband who returned it. She froze as Matril spoke, but not to her!

"You ask me why I serve?" Matril said softly. "That ls why I serve. Because _they_ understand love and you do not."

"You..." The female Forgotten sounded awful. Nyx and Chroma spun to see her staring at the trio. "What is this? No understand."

"Just _shut up already!_ " Matril stalked back towards the Forgotten. "You do not understand. You will not understand. You _cannot_ understand. You are weak. You are slow and weak and stupid! All of you!" Nxy went still. This was wrong. Why was he acting this way? Chroma tightened his grip on her and she kept her mouth shut. It was hard.

"No understand _._ " The Forgotten begged. She screamed as Matril leaped up on top of her and his claws dug deep. But... she writhed. Not poisoned? What? She went still as he...

"Ew, Matril!" Nyx was glad she had her helmet on. She was sure the stink was bad from the face the Forgotten made. Then Matril stuck in claw in what he had... Nyx shook her head as it glowed momentarily. The cat retracted the claw and stepped away. "Matril, that is gross."

"That is set for motion activation." Matril warned the Forgotten. "Move and you go boom. You won't _die_. But you will _beg_ for it." He shook himself, jumped off her suddenly still form and walked back to where Nyx still knelt staring. "What?" He demanded, cross.

" _That_ is where you got the explosives. Those were never part of our simulation." Chroma actually sounded _impressed_. Matril shrugged, but he looked smug too. "Natural ammonia nitrate. _Nice_."

"We have our tricks." Matril's tone was noncommittal.

"Why not kill?" The fallen Forgotten asked slowly.

"Because I am recon, not wetwork." Matril retorted. "Be glad. _Grisha_ would have mopped the floor with you idiots out of habit and I would be picking _pieces_ of you out of my _fur_ for _weeks_."

"Alpha..." Nyx went still as the Forgotten actually bared her throat. She was...submitting?

"Shut up!" Matril shouted. He had impressive volume for a tiny creature. "You are not worth my time. You are _certainly_ not worth Nyx's and Chroma's time. You hunt and kill, for what? To sate you hunger? No. To show dominance? No. _You do it because you don't know any better and are_ _happy_ _with that! Stupid ignorant bunch of brainless kits couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag and you are_ _happy_ _with that!_ "

What the hell? Nyx stared as the Forgotten slumped further under Matril's tirade.

"Not... true..." The female wasn't -quite- crying.

"Just shut up!" Matril made a sound more akin to a tiger than a housecat. "Worthless. Brainless. _Hope_ less. Just die already! You save us all a lot of work and lot of pain if you all just go on and _die!_ Sure, your life sucks. Sure you were made. So was I. So was Nyx So was Chroma. Do you see us moping? Whining? Trying to take over everything? You are _feeble! All of you!_ "

"But..." The Forgotten screamed as Matril leaped onto her stomach and started to claw. "No! Please!"

" _Please_? _But_? What is _with_ you?" Matril was on a full tear now. Nyx could only stare in awe as he started speaking rapidly and loudly. "I have _never_ seen a more _wretched_ group of _wanna be_ predators in my entire _life!_ " He jumped on her again, but Nyx jerked and stared as other forms appeared lying on the ground nearby. All of them broken, hurt in some way. But all alive. He was doing _something_. "You want to kill or enslave everyone who is different? Well, _I_ am different! Didn't work out so well, did it?" He was no longer shouting, but the intensity level was through the roof. "I am _not_ your damn Alpha. I don't have _time_ to _be_ your damn Alpha. I have _better_ things to do with my time, like _clean_ my _fur!_ "

Nyx was shaking her head as every single one of the fifteen hurt Forgotten in the area seemed to wilt. What was Matril _doing_? Chroma tightened his grip on her again and she swallowed her questions and watched as Matril rounded on another Forgotten.

"And _you_!" The Forgotten that had Matril's attention looked as if it wanted to be anywhere but where he was. The human form was wrong, even discounting the long branch that was stuck through its pelvis. The arms were askew and the legs not quite right either. "What kind of a shapeshifter do you call yourself? Hmmm? You can't even _manage_ fake the appearance of a _hairless ape!_ You couldn't even catch a _cold!_ You are _pathetic!_ " Matril screamed the least and the Forgotten slumped. "All of you are fracking _useless_. None of you could catch a _clue_ if someone _held_ it for you! And you! Do! Not! Care!"

"No." The forgotten female who Matril had laid the excreted explosives on was not crying now. She was angry. "You not know-" She broke off as Matril turned back to her.

" _I_ don't know?" His tone was conversational now and Nyx felt fear blossom. "Maybe I don't. I know I am not perfect. I am not omniscient or omnipotent. But here is a hint, _wanna be_. There are limits, you have passed them."

He strode to another Forgotten and...Nyx averted her eyes as he laid the same disgusting explosives on that one and stepped to the next. A few of the Forgotten tried to move, tried to flee. It made no difference. None could move far or fast and in short order, every one of them had a tiny brown lump on them somewhere and none dared move.

"Nyx and Chroma want to _try_ and explain to you brainless fools." Matril said as he finished and stepped back to where Nyx stood, stunned. "Personally, I can hardly believe the lot of you have the collective brainpower to move your fracking legs. _None_ of you are worth our time. But they want to try. So I am going to let them." Now his face split in a wide grin that was friendly in the same way a _shark's_ was. "Step out of line. _**Please**_."

"Matril..." Nyx swallowed hard. "What the hell?"

"You got something to show us." Matril rubbed against Nyx's legs and she reached down to pick him up. He snuggled close.

"What was your rank in the Feline Corps, Matril?" Chroma asked. "Before the Grineer?"

"Sergeant." Matril replied calmly.

"And your not-combat job?" Chroma's voice was odd, but Matril just smiled. "I know the Feline Corps had more than one job for each being. No one can _just_ do fieldwork. Not Tenno, not human, not feline." Matril shrugged.

"When I was out of the field? Drill instructor."

"Figured."


	15. Chapter 15

**To see death coming**

Nyx was reeling. Matril hadn't even focused his ire on her and the emotion hurt her. She didn't want to think how the Forgotten felt, getting the full brunt of the small soldier's rage. But she had to do this. They did not have much time left at all. She fought back the bone deep weariness that seeped into her. She had to keep going. Matril was still in her hands, barely breathing now that his rage was spent. She focused.

 **Memory Again**

He walked in alone. It was the way. No matter how much one cared for others, in some things, one had to face the results of one's actions alone. It hurt being separated from Nyx. But she was still weak. Still sick. He would not expose her to this. Neither would the others. She had protested, she had fought. But in the end, he had pressed the sedative on her and she had drunk it of her own free will. She would sleep for a day or so. A good thing, she needed the rest.

Four warframes and a form not wearing one stood in front of where he stopped and knelt. Now, he knew them all. Hayden of course in the middle, effortlessly dominating the room. Trinity stood beside him, her anger plain as day even through her closed faceplate. He did not blame her. Loki was fidgeting beside her, but kneeling being did not miss the fact that the moving hands stayed near his pistols. Excalibur stood on Hayden's other side, calm and sure. But the stillness of the swordsman spoke volumes. Saryn stood beside Excalibur, her own posture relaxed. Stood to reason, as he was he had no chance against her toxins and she knew it.

He waited and finally Hayden spoke.

"This is difficult for several of us." Hayden said quietly. "Trinity and I faced your kind in Lasria." The kneeling being bowed his head and Hayden continued. "I faced _you_ in Lasria. Nearly killed you there. I would have, if given the chance." No one spoke and after a moment the Tenno patriarch continued. "You come to us as a supplicant, but you were never human. All of us were once. Now, we are not. But we _were_. You are not and never were. This bothers me on many levels." He smiled a little without mirth. "And it bothers me that it bothers me. I had hoped I was beyond prejudice, but I am not." Hayden sighed. "What say you?"

"Do with me as you will, Hayden Tenno." The kneeling form said softly. "But do not harm Nyx. She is dear to me." Trinity inhaled sharply and the kneeling being looked at her. "Your opinion of my kind is well known and well deserved, Trinity, but even you have to admit that we _do_ have emotions. We feel pain, we feel fear, we feel affection. I learned love. My kind do not feel as you do, but we feel emotion." He did not look away from Hayden who sighed.

"We need a way to test you." Hayden said quietly. "Most of our kin have come to us through trials and tribulations. We test them for a time and then we measure them. But how do we measure something that was never human? We have no frames of reference."

The as yet unnamed being who was kneeling bowed his head again. Nyx was trying to get him to select a name, but he hadn't found any he liked. She said it would make him fit in better if they called him something besides 'It' or 'Thing' or 'Monster'. Trinity was fond of the last. He did not like being in her clutches, but she was consummately professional when he was in her medical bay for scans.

"From what I have learned as you studied me, a trial is a test of the performance, qualities, or suitability of someone or something." The kneeling form said quietly. "You need a test that is suitable."

"Indeed." Hayden rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But what _would_ be suitable for you?" The leader of the Tenno shook his head slowly. "What we would find suitable, you might find easy and vice versa."

"Then set me something that is supposedly impossible." The kneeling form was still quiet. All four of the Tenno in warframes stilled at that. "If I fall doing it, Nyx will not blame you."

"Oh yes, she will." Loki said in a monotone. The others all looked at him and the horn helmeted warframe shrugged. "She will." The kneeling being shook his head.

"You cannot trust me. This could be some kind of trap. Even now, with me unknowing." He said quietly. "Even Nyx is not infallible." He slumped a bit. "Especially now."

Nyx was confused. The scans that the medics had done on her and him were disturbing in the extreme. She had bonded to him. His thoughts and hers had _merged_. Both had been affected. She had absorbed some of his instincts and _he_ had absorbed some of her devotion to duty. But it had also shown them things about each other that no one could deny. They both cared for each other now and that was not the product of any mental manipulation no matter how much Trinity tried to prove it had been. None of the scans that anyone had done had found a way to reverse the process or unlink the pair. He didn't want to hurt Nyx. If he died, she would be. But this...divide between her and her kin also hurt her.

"We have received reports of a large creature of some kind dwelling in the forest where you were hidden." Hayden said after a moment's thought. "No one who has seen it has lived."

"Do you wish me to find it?" The kneeling being asked carefully. "Or slay it?"

"Find out what it is." Hayden said quietly. "Find out if it is sentient. Then return so we can determine a course of action. We will provide transport."

"If I fall..." The kneeling being said quietly. "Help Nyx."

"We will."

 **The Baltic Coast**

It didn't feel like home now.

The forest had been his home for a long time as humans counted time. He had fallen into the water in Lasria in 2008 and woken here. He could find the spot where he had washed ashore easily. The trees were the same. The vegetation was the same. The landscape itself was the same. Twilight was a favored time for hunting. Night was falling and he hunted better at night.

 _He_ was different.

He crept through the gathering gloom, every sense on high alert. The beast or whatever it was had proved easy to track. A bit too easy. This felt wrong. He followed the trail past a pair of destroyed ground vehicles and shook his head silently. He had never attacked vehicles that he knew of. He had always waited until the occupants had exited the vehicles before striking. Again, he was different now. Before he had felt a sense of satisfaction in slaying enemies who dared to violate his home. But now? He felt revulsion. How many had actually been enemies? Had any been tourists looking for an untouched patch of nature? None of the Tenno would tell him. Not even Trinity. He was sure she was under orders or she would have delighted in-

He froe in mid-step and looked around slowly. He wasn't alone. He couldn't see his watcher, but that meant nothing. He faded himself and shifted position. Just in time. A huge form hurtled through where he had been. He had a moment to see claws and teeth and... _blue?_ This wasn't anything he knew. It was also larger than he was and capable of hiding as he was, so he had better...

He froze as part of the air came alive and one of his kind stepped into view. It looked around and he didn't dare breathe. It did not seem to see him. Odd that. He had always been able to see others of his kind even when they shifted. The other raised its head and a warbling call sounded. The watcher went still as the huge thing he had seen before stepped into view slowly. It looked...wrong. It was alive, but he could smell rot. It looked at him. Not near him, _at_ him. But it did not react.

He fought to remain calm as four _others_ of his kind stepped into view. They held a motionless form. _Loki!_ What the hell? Then he kicked himself. Of _course_ the Tenno would not trust him to do as they asked! They _couldn't_. Was Loki the only one sent to watch? He eased away. He could not fight five of his kind as well as the monstrous form. But he was sure that the huge form was watching him and not calling attention to him. Odd. Then it got worse.

One of the others pulled Loki's limp arm and a golden arch sprang into being in front of the group. That was how he had gotten here! If they had activated the _portal_ they could get to the Citadel! They could get to _Nyx_ who slept. Unable to _defend_ herself.

A growl split the night. All five of the others and the monster went still as he deactivated his shift and strode into their midst. He pushed the one who held Loki savagely and pulled the still Tenno from the other one's grip. A hum of confusion came from the others but he ignored it as he strode away into the night. None of them followed him. The portal faded.

"Loki, wake up." He said as soon as he was far enough away that none of the other could hear. "What the hell did they do? Wake up." Not knowing what else to do, he slapped the bioarmor that clad the Tenno's arm.

"Ow." Came the soft voice of the Tenno. "What happened?"

"I don't know." The other replied uneasily. "I saw the monster or whatever it is. It saw me. But it didn't tell them it saw me. Odd."

"Them?" Loki sounded dazed.

"Five of my kind, Loki." The other fought worry back. "Please tell me this is part of the test." He nearly begged. Loki stilled and he had his answer. "This isn't part of the test is it?"

"No." Loki sounded stronger and the other set him on his feet where he stood unsteadily. "Just supposed to find the thing. You did."

"We have a bigger problem." The other said softly. "They activated the portal device you have." Loki went still and the other nodded. "They may be able to get to the Citadel!" Loki said something that sounded rude in what sounded like an Asian language. The other hadn't studied any of those yet. "Did anyone else come with you?" Loki shook his head. "Are you armed?"

Loki stared down at himself and growled. The other did likewise. Parts of Loki's armor had been... cut. On the hips. The parts where his pistols usually lay.

"No rifle or blade?" The other demanded, not quite angry. More fearful.

"Never needed them." Loki sounded a bit sheepish now. The other sighed.

"We need to stop these." The other said quietly. "Do you have power?" Loki nodded. "Good. I will get their attention. Get back to the Citadel and warn them. Protect Nyx."

"Wait." Loki protested. "You? Alone?"

"You forget what I am, Loki." The other said quietly. "I am different from the others of my kind. But in the end, I am a predator."

"So are they." Loki said mildly. Then he did the unthinkable. He laid a hand on the other's shoulder. "Don't die, Brother." He was gone before the other could frame a coherent response.

"You too..." The other said into the silence. "Brother."

It was easy.

He blessed Hayden's forethought. Trinity had wanted to remove the organic things in his arms that allowed him to store and channel bioelectric energy. Her stated reason was valid. They were highly efficient and much, much smaller than any human or Tenno design. But that wasn't her only reason. She wanted to hurt him. Nyx had told him what had happened to the human woman who had become Trinity. He understood her anger. Now? He had a job to do. He had to delay them long enough for the Tenno to prepare.

None of them expected an attack. They were focused on something and none of them noticed him sliding up to them while shifted. Not until he appeared in their midst and let loose. His first shot hit the device they had been working on and it exploded in a small shower of sparks. His second stung the monster where it stood silently at the side. It bellowed and charged. Right into the group as he flipped away. He did not shift, he simply ran and it followed.

'Run'

Where had _that_ come from? He dared a look back and saw _far_ too many teeth, _far_ too close. He did as instructed and fled. The words came again.

'You must kill. They use. They evil. Stop.'

"Who are you?" He demanded as he ran.

'Experiment 83-D.' The other replied. 'They have control. I cannot stop myself. Don't let me kill you as they have made me kill so many others! Please!' The pain in the voice called to him.

"I won't." The fleeing one promised. "Not far."

Indeed, it wasn't far. He knew the terrain. The thing behind him did not. He threw himself forward and up as the ground under his feet vanished. He caught a branch and slid into motion up the huge tree that had once served as his gymnasium. The pursuing form could not stop in time. It fell into the ravine that had been hidden by underbrush but... The other's eyes went huge as wings sprouted from the forms' back and it flapped once, twice and steadied itself in the air.

'Run!' The mental voice of the thing begged him.

"No." The other said sternly as he reversed his momentum and threw himself into the air. The thing had a moment to stare at him and then it screamed as he landed on its back, claws slashing. A tendon was a tendon no matter how large and one wing fell limp. The other flapped harder, but was unable to stop the sudden downward plunge. He continued slashing, his claws biting deep into blue flesh. Blue blood spurted. He kept slashing until the ground rose to meet him.

The impact stunned him, but he did not lose consciousness. He did not stop slashing. The other jerked under him, but could not dislodge him. He had leverage and purchase. Finally, he cut into what was obviously a skull and the other stopped writhing so he stopped slashing.

'Do it. Please.' The voice was sad, but firm now. 'Free me.' He raised a clawed hand, but paused.

"You don't have a name. Are you male or female?" He said quietly. He could hear sounds of pursuit, Howls of his kind. He ignored them. This was more important.

'Why?' The mental voice was confused now.

"Because no one should die alone and unremembered." He raised a claw. "Male or female? Life giving or life carrying?"

'The... ones who made me said I would bear eggs.' The voice sounded sad now. 'Not that I will. There are none to fertilize my eggs. I am the only one of my kind.'

"Female." He said gently as he reached into the skull with an oddly gentle claw. "I will call you Jane. It is as good a name as any other." The body under him jerked.

'They are taking-' It broke off as he gave a squeeze with his claws. The voice gave a sigh and then it was filled with gratitude. 'Thank you.'

Then it was gone. He had a bare moment to look up and see five forms so like his own appear at the top of the ravine. Then his world turned blue.

 **The Present**

"No!"

The scream came from all of the Forgotten's throats as Nyx cut the connection. Into the silence after, Chroma spoke.

"Your ancestors found a genetics research facility, killed all the researchers and took the subject from it. They used her as a weapon until I freed her. I wore Jane's pelt until the day I died to remind me that there are costs to everything. I did what I had to do." The draconic looking warframe said quietly. "Your ancestors nearly killed me. But the attack they had planned was foiled. After that, I was found not quite dead and taken to the Citadel for healing. I took the name William. I lived with the Tenno until I died. I had a son with my beloved mate." He shook his head. "I am not proud of many things I have done, slaying Jane is high on that list. But I _am_ proud of Draco."

"Why... did you do that?" The female Forgotten seemed to be acting as spokesbeing. "You were one of us."

"I was." Chroma said sadly. Nyx gave his arm a squeeze and he continued. "But I learned a better way. A way that is not just about hunters and prey. I am a hunter. I will always _be_ a hunter. But there was and _is_ more to life than hunting."

"Can you teach us this 'more'?" The female asked, dazed. Chroma sighed.

"No." The draconian warframe sounded resigned now. "All I can do is what I have done. Show you the path. _You_ have to walk it."

"But..." The female swallowed hard, staring at where Matril slept fitfully. "You can advise..."

"My time - _our_ time- is ending." Nyx hugged Chroma as pain sounded in his words. "I will cease to be soon. There are others you can ask. But it will be a long, hard road. My own redemption did not end with Jane's death. It was barely _begun_."

Nyx jerked and gave a gasp. "Chroma..."

"I know." Chroma said quietly.

"Nikis and Hayden have arrived."


	16. Chapter 16

**Best laid plans...**

The Forgotten had planned well. They had possessed a lot of time to do nothing but plan.

The plan had been straightforward. Most good plans were. Sneak into the tower. Take control of its computers. Shift its entrance to somewhere that no one knew about. Enslave the inhabitants. Use it as a base of operations to launch attacks across the Solar System. Simple, straightforward and fairly easy to accomplish with the Lotus disabled and the oracles either dead or distracted. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked out as planned. That was always the _downside_ to plans. They rarely worked perfectly the first time. Especially when said plans involved other people. When said other people not only disagreed with the plan, but did so _violently_ , even the best laid plans had a _distressing_ habit of coming off the rails.

 _Nothing_ in the Forgotten's plan had envisioned Mei merging with the Tower and keeping control of it from them. Nothing in their plan had ever envisioned Nyx and Chroma absconding with the minds of almost a quarter of their number. That was just insane. Let alone the tiny feline commando who had thrown an even larger wrench into the works than anyone knew but the Tower. It was waiting for the proper time. That time would come.

That said, the Forgotten were not stupid. They had laid contingency plans. They knew that sooner or later, their base would be discovered and attacked. But they also knew their enemies. They had faced Tenno before. Several times. They knew both the strengths of most warframes and the weaknesses. They had to be in physical contact to use their 'Converters' and that would be quite dangerous. So they had prepared. They had neither the cloning facilities of the Grineer nor the advanced robotics of the Corpus. They could not simply infect people like the Infested. They had lost that ability with so much else over the millennia. But they did have advantages.

Their nano technology was highly advanced, as the Lotus and Oracle had discovered to their cost. Their 'Converters' were small, easily concealed and fairly simple to manufacture. They could not pass for humans at close range, but they could -and had- use their shapeshifting abilities to sneak into places carefully and once inside, subvert, co-opt and control anyone they found. Several Grineer galleons had simply stopped reporting in to base and three Corpus trading vessels likewise. Not all of the crews had been taken alive, and any who had died had been rendered down to basic molecules to be reused. The Forgotten were not at the Orokin level in bio-engineering, but they were not completely clueless either. They had been planning for a long time and they were as ready as they could be.

The arrival hall of the tower was virtually unrecognizable. What had been a pristine room with golds and whites predominating, now the room was dark and gray. Grineer troops -all with silver skulls- knelt behind barricades that barred egress from any of the three doors that led from the room. Corpus troops and proxies kept a wary watch from two different bunkers that had been set up with decent fields of fire to cover as many of the ways out of the room as possible. Automated traps and landmines dotted the room as well. The whole idea had been to turn the room into a deathtrap and the Forgotten had succeeded.

Any conceivable battle would have to begin with an assault so the Forgotten had hoped to hold any enemy at bay while their defenses destroyed them. With only 61 of their kind in existence, any battle of attrition was a doomed exercise. They were not built for close combat, so they had subverted slaves who _were_. They had been working so hard to do that in fact that they had not had time to fully subvert the medical staff of the tower. The humans were not essential for a battle, so most had been placed in stasis as soon as the Forgotten had started encountering difficulty. Most, not all. Several of the humans had been subverted and now stood silently in the entry chamber. Their job was simple. When anyone entered who wasn't Forgotten, they were to scream. The fact that as soon as that happened, all of them would die was inconsequential to the Forgotten. They were human, not Forgotten, so they were not important. There were always more humans.

The plan _was_ good. There was one problem with the plan however. The Forgotten planned for a battle. This wasn't a battle for the Tenno. This was _vengeance_.

What was worse? The Tower was _angry_.

The Tower had managed to keep the Forgotten from finding the sanctuary where Mei's form lay silent and still. It was the sole access point that they had not subverted. Several of the Forgotten's slaves had been injured, two critically, by ancient traps before Nyx and Chroma had done what they had done. Whatever that was. The Tower could not quite sense what had been done. It _could_ sense Matril's body slowly failing. It had no idea what had happened to the tiny fur clad soldier but it wasn't good. None of the medical personnel or drones were available. All the Tower could do was watch as Matril breathed his last. That and _fume_.

 _Soon._ The voice of Mariposa came to the Tower and it calmed it's circuits a little. _Are you ready?_

 _No._ The Tower said sadly. _How many of the ones I am programmed to protect must die today, Mariposa? I can do nothing to aid the slaves the Forgotten have taken. They have turned the entryway into a deathtrap._

 _That was a strong probability._ Mariposa replied, her voice gentle. _It was planned for._

 _Can the Tenno approach another way?_ The Tower asked.

 _There are several probabilities of what the Tenno will do._ Mariposa replied. _Most equal. Few of them involve charging head on into a deathtrap. Tenno are many things,_ _stupid_ _is not generally one of them._ She said dryly and the Twoer actually chuckled. It had absorbed quite a lot of Mei.

 _No._ A new voice sounded to the Tower and it went still. It knew that voice. The Lotus. _They are not._

 _Lotus..._ The Tower asked, worried. _Are you well?_

 _No._ The Lotus replied. _But I am functional._ _Mei is dead. Matril is dying. Others who look to me will die this day and for what? What do the Forgotten gain from this? They could not win, cannot win. I am grieving at the senselessness of this._

 _I am sorry._ The Tower systems said softly. Then it jerked as something happened. _Lotus! Mariposa! I... I am losing control..._

 _A nanobot must have accessed your secure feeds._ Mariposa sad quickly. _Can you sequester?_

 _Trying!_ The Tower felt pieces of itself start to fade, start to fight. But whatever was happening was far too strong. _I am... No..._

"No." A strong female voice sounded from close at hand and the Tower reeled in shock as the door to the sanctuary opened and a Forgotten stepped in. But... It was alone. And it was carrying Matril's still form. "You are in control."

Just like that, the Tower _was_ back in control. It jerked but could do nothing as the Forgotten slowly knelt on the floor, still cradling the still cat in it's arms. It had no defenses inside this room.

 _What the hell?_ The Tower, Mariposa and the Lotus all chorused.

"Lady Nyx and Lord Chroma decreed that I be the one to bear the shame." The Forgotten bowed her head. "The shame of what we have done." She was _crying_! "When the Tenno are done, I will surrender to their justice. My life... is forfeit. My shame is eternal. I thought I knew what I was doing. _We_ thought we knew. We were... inexcusably naive and arrogant." She stroked the fur of the dying cat. "And it took the life of this brave soldier to show us."

"Do _all_ of you feel that way?" The Tower asked cautiously. The female Forgotten shook her head. "I see."

"What will be, will be." The Forgotten said sadly. "We did not understand. By the grace of two brave Tenno shades and the courage of this one..." She hugged Matril's silent form close. "Some of us understand. But not all. Not even most. You cannot save us. Lady Nyx and Lord Chroma could not save us. We understand this. We are flawed. We were doomed from the beginning. We must be stopped. The others know no better but they will not surrender. They cannot." She said firmly. "Please. Stop us."

"We will."

* * *

It began in utter silence. There were no battlecries, no screams of rage and pain. Just silent, slow death. The Forgotten had ironically forgotten one of the main problems with _any_ fixed fortification. If an enemy knew where you were, they could find a way to get around or in. From ancient times, when castles filled with knights on horseback were the epitome of military technology, sieges had been a known quantity. When the castle had enough food and water, it could last a long time. Not indefinitely. But a long time, far longer than most generals wished. So, ever since humans had started building fortifications to defend their lands and treasures, _other_ humans had been devising ways of getting into said defenses.

Sometimes said means were loud. The phrase 'hoist by one's own petard' was a reference to having a fuse cut just a _little_ too short on a large charge of black powder that a very brave or foolish being ran up to place at the gate of a castle. He would not have time to cut and light the fuse himself, he would be busy running. So it was cut and lit _before_ he started running. But there were problems. Cut the fuse too long and the runner could get away. But people from _inside_ the castle could use a small door called a sally port to exit the castle, pull the fuse and take the gunpowder inside to use against the besiegers. And if you cut too _short_? Boom.

Other means of ending sieges were very quiet. Poisoning wells was always a good tactic but there was another that was harder. Get a force inside the walls. The Trojan Horse of myth was one well known tactic. There were others. One of the _best_? Find a way in that the enemy did not _know_ about.

When it happened, it happened silently. Two of the subverted Grineer sentries posted outside the slave quarters simply died. No alarm was raised. Nothing was seen. One moment, they were there, the next, they were gone. The Forgotten had been monitoring of course and one reached for an alarm, only to pause with everyone else as the portal flared and... _something_ stepped through.

It was not a Tenno. It was not even remotely human looking. It had four legs and a huge misshapen body that dwarfed even the largest Grineer. It looked from side to side as if sizing up the opposition.

"Juggernaut!" The call went across the mass of Forgotten, all of them stunned. None of them had expected _this._ They did the predictable thing when faced by a massive monster out of nightmare. " _Fire!_ "

The Behemoth Juggernaut dashed forward, past the line of slave humans who stood, unable to move without commands. The traps and mines that it sped over went off and did nothing to it. It dashed directly into the line of fire of the Grineer and Corpus slaves. And there... it curled up into a ball. The Grineer and Corpus, obedient to the orders of their new masters, did as instructed, pouring bullets and coherent energy of various kinds at the monster. None of it had _any_ effect _whatsoever_. The Forgotten recoiled, stunned by this sudden change. Then they returned their attention to their surroundings, but it was too late.

The humans who had been standing as living early warning systems were _gone!_ Where five humans had just stood, five warframes now readied themselves. Excalibur. Trinity. Banshee. Rhino. Volt. Five Tenno. All fully armed and fully energized according to the scanners. From their _postures_? All _angry_ _!_

Before any Forgotten could issue orders to change targets, the Tenno charged.

The Tower systems were not used to this feeling. Mei's memories within told what it was. Awe.

Rhino. Karl charged into a large mob of Grineer, his Orthos Prime flashing. Some said that slash weapons were useless against Grineer armor. Ha! He Stomped and half of them flew up, suspended in midair as he hacked and slashed with seeming abandon. But that was deceptive. Every single motion was planned, Every block and counter was perfect. Every move was timed and practiced. He was a warrior scholar. A student of honor. A philosopher when he could be. When he could not? He was a gore covered harbinger of death.

Excalibur. Will charged the _other_ side of the line of Grineer that had barred the way. Before any of them could even blink, he was in their midst, skana flashing. The skana was a humble blade. It wasn't large. It wasn't heavy. It wasn't cumbersome. It also did not do as much damage as quickly as other weapons, so many Tenno used other swords. Will however _lived_ the sword to a far greater extent than even most Tenno. There was a _reason_ that the Tenno Elders had given him the rank of 'grandmaster swordsman' and _everyone_ treated him with respect. The enslaved Grineer and by extension, their Forgotten masters, learned that very quickly. Limbs and heads flew as he carved his way through the line of clones.

Trinity. Alicia remained back from the chaos. Her Burston Prime was rock steady as it picked off targets of opportunity, but her main focus as always was team support. Every so often, an enemy would freeze, grab their heads, glow blue and suddenly start emitting radiation that filled the power reservoirs of the battling warframes. Her fury knew no bounds, but she controlled it. She rode it and used it.

Loki. Aeron picked off Corpus target after Corpus target, his Snipetron moving with deliberate speed. He stood behind the battle and a bit to the side, out of the way and did what he did best. He was no philosopher. No swordsman. No healer. He was a sniper. In the time he had been with Karl's clan, he had learned how to fight without going berserk. By being what he was. Cold, merciless, efficient. A perfect killing machine.

Banshee. Ordinarily, Tenno Two -she still had trouble calling herself Serene. It didn't feel real to her.-was a sneaky sort. She preferred to use her bow and throwing knives to silence enemies before they could threaten her. Not now. Now? She danced through the enemy ranks, her dual ether swords in hand. A maniacal laugh came from the black armored form and despite their controls, despite the enslavement, despite _everything_ , the slaves of the Forgotten knew fear.

A pair of quick Sonic Booms had cleared most of the remaining landmines from the floor and none of the surviving traps were in the _middle_ of the enemy line. The slaves didn't have a _chance_. Corpus and Grineer slaves fought of course, they had no way of fleeing. But it was a foregone conclusion.

"Blow the room!" One of the Forgotten in the command center screamed as he started hitting controls. They had laid a fallback plan for just such an occasion. The entire room was wired to explode. Even Tenno could not survive that. Admittedly, the portal chamber would be useless until repaired and of another attack came before...

He realized that he didn't hear anything else and spun, only to have a razor sharp metal disk slice through his neck. He died, staring up into the pitiless eyes of Hayden Tenno. He fell off his chair, noting that all of the others lay still as well. He could still hear though.

"Command center secure." The voice of the Tenno Patriarch was cold. Empty. "Nikis. Your turn."

The Glaive flashed again and the Forgotten was no more.

* * *

The Tower was stunned as the walls, floors and ceiling of the tower suddenly came alive with orange energy.

 _What the...?_ The Tower started to ask only to pause as the Lotus spoke sharply.

 _Do nothing!_ The Lotus commanded. _What will be, will be. You cannot stop him. Not now._ Her voice turned sad and sick. _Stupid, stupid... attacking Janet was a_ _bad_ _idea. He hated them before. Now?_

 _What will he do?_ The Tower asked, part it's attention focusing on the battle in the portal chamber. The Banshee was down, but hurling knives at enemies as the Rhino and Trinity went to her aid.

 _Kill them all._ The Lotus said sadly.

 _I..._ The Tower went still as two holograms appeared in the room with the sobbing Forgotten. Nyx and Chroma stood warily. Nyx shook her head quickly. _What can I do, Lotus? Mei died to stop these things. Matril is dying. What can I do?_ The computer begged.

Something wrapped around the tower systems' mind as screams started to come from every single part of the tower. Awful, _terrible_ screams of agony. Not physical agony. No. These were _worse_. Everywhere that had a Forgotten life sign those life signs...winked out. But not quickly. Not smoothly. Not...gently. No. Having souls ripped from bodies was not gentle. _Hearing_ said souls torn to pieces was worse. Far worse.

Dark orange energy flared around the room and the Tower systems quailed as it plowed into green and red energy from the two shades. For a moment, it was a stalemate and then the orange energy retreated. The Tower quailed as the door opened again and Nikis strode in, his pistols in hand. He raised them, but Nyx and Chroma were in motion and he paused as they blocked his path.

"Move." Nikis snapped at the two shades barring his path.

"We need it, Nikis." Nyx said quietly. "I know you want them all dead. I know why. But we need at least one alive for the moment."

"Says you." Niksi snarled. " _I_ say kill them all and let them _rot_ this time!"

"We need _one_ alive, Nikis." Chroma said calmly. The Nekros stared at the shade and then snarled again.

"Don't go wishy washy on me, Chroma!" Nikis snorted. "I thought you were _better_ than that!"

"I am." Chroma said as he bent down and... Everything stopped as the female Forgotten screamed, her legs flying away from her body. Her pelvis shifted so she wouldn't bleed to death, but she was going _nowhere_. She kept her grip on the cat as she sobbed. "We need her _alive_."

"No one said _anything_ about _hale_."


	17. Chapter 17

**Messes**

Iriana gasped as she materialized on the arrival platform. The room was _trashed_. Organic debris lay everywhere. Pieces of Grineer, pieces of Corpus, unidentifiable bits...

She felt like hell, but there was work to be done. No one had wanted her to come, but she had insisted. They had tried to keep her out of the loop, keep her asleep. She hadn't taken well to that. She wasn't a Warrior, but these were her people, dammit. This was _her_ place, _her_ hospital. She had to be here. But not alone.

"You should still be in bed." She did not turn to look at the speaker. It took every ounce of willpower that she had not to react. Not to scream at the male form that stood behind her. But it would not end well if she did. The three Tenno behind him aiming at the being were not going to miss at this range and he was restrained. So she ignored Stalker and strode forward, only to stagger. A hand caught her and she sighed as she looked at medic Wilmi.

"Take it slow, Ma'am." Wilmi wore restraints as well. No matter that she wasn't armed. No matter that she served a known group and had been tricked into swearing service to Stalker. ( _If_ that was what had happened, Iriana had suspicions...) No matter that she was human and no real threat to anyone. No one cared. She worked with Stalker and that was all anyone ended to know. The two soldiers who had been with him had vanished into custody. Iriana didn't know where they were and wouldn't ask. She didn't want to know. Wilmi though... The human woman smiled a bit. "The repairs are done, but you are very weak."

"I know that." Iriana's voice was calm. The Healers tending her hand done good work. They had even repaired the damage to her vocal cords from screaming for so long. She stared around the carnage filled hall and froze as a sad voice sounded.

"Come on. Get up." The voice was familiar. Jasmina. But... "You can do it. Please get up. We will get you home. Let Healer take care of you." The Healer looked and saw the Ember Prime warframe on its knees beside a large mass of flesh. Jasmina looked at the healer. Her faceplate was open and her face desolate.

"Oh dear." Iriana stepped forward again, aware of other Tenno in the area all taking aim at Stalker who did not react. Did not move. Wilmi followed Iriana, and a few of the weapon muzzles followed her. Iriana ignored that to move to Jasmina's side. The large mass of flesh was a Juggernaut. But... It's armor was rent in numerous places. Horrific wounds had been ripped into the flesh beneath the armor. "Jasmina?"

"He volunteered." Jasmina was one step away from crying and Iriana laid a hand on the Ember's shoulder. "He knew it was dangerous. He held their attention. But..." Iriana bowed her head and laid a hand on the huge misshapen form. It heaved under her hand and a voice came to her.

 _It was needed._ The voice wasn't anyone Iriana knew by name. But she knew him anyway. He had been part of the mindmass the times she had touched it. _They needed a distraction or Tenno would have died. Possibly many Tenno. The Tenno are needed. I will reform. In time. Help Fire Heart, Gentle Dreams._

Despite her suddenly tight throat, Iriana had to smile a little at the name the mind mass had given her. Gentle Dreams. She wasn't sure _why_ they called her that, but no one who heard their voices could deny that they meant it. Then again, they called Mishka 'Gentle Songs', so maybe it was a family thing? Maybe. She wasn't sure.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Iriana asked, examining the mass of flesh. Ordinarily, being so close to such a monstrosity would have made her run screaming in the other direction. But she knew the precautions that Jasmina and Elenia took with all of their charges The chances of her being infected even from this things blood were minuscule to say the least. But she _would_ decontaminate. Jasmina and Elenia -and the _mind mass_ \- would insist. "I could..."

 _No._ The voice from the Juggernaut was firm but weakening. _There is too much internal damage. And if you attempt to fix it, too much chance of infection by the Virus._ _This was needed. I do not want to pass. Whatever reforms will not be_ _me_ _. It will be someone new with my memories. But I did my family proud._

"Yes. Yes, you did." Jasmina was crying now and Iriana took her and held her as the mass of flesh heaved and then lay still. "You will be remembered, Charlie." The Caretaker bowed her head over the still form but there was no response. "I..."

"Come here." Iriana pulled the unresisting Ember into a hug and held her as Jasmina sobbed. Far too quickly, Jasmina forced herself to stop crying and Iriana released her.

"You shouldn't be here, Iriana." Jasmina said with a scowl that turned into a glare as she looked behind the healer. "And _he_ should be in _pieces_." Iriana shook her head and Jasmina sighed. "Why now?"

"Healer got the silver skin off and repaired the damage to my skull and neck." Iriana said quietly. "But the nanite alterations were done inside my brain. We need to find way to undo them. Nikis said there was a cure, but that the Forgotten destroyed it." Jasmina growled and Iriana nodded. "And...these people were my responsibility. How...many...?"

"None died when we came in." Jasmina said quietly. "Charlie held their attention long enough for Karl and his people to tear the ambush apart. But Iriana." She gave the Healer a gentle shake. "It's bad. Serene is...not doing well."

"Amelia?" Iriana asked, heart in her mouth. Jasmina shook her head and Iriana felt her world fall out from under her. "No." She breathed.

"We have her in stasis." A new voice sounded and Iriana turned to see Alicia of Karl's clan stepping towards them. The combat medic's posture was resigned and annoyed. "But there is too much damage. Too many vital organs damaged or destroyed. If she wakes, even for a moment..."

"She dies." Iriana completed the thought."And Serene?"

"Losing it." Jasmina and Alicia both chorused. The Ember Prime and Trinity glanced at each other and Alicia waved for Jasmina to continue.

"We have not managed to scour the entire Tower, Iriana." Jasmina said quietly. "All but one of the Forgotten are dead. Nikis killed them." The hard bitten combat veteran actually shuddered and Iriana could relate. That old gunfighter was _terrifying_ when he lost his temper. "We don't know how many of your people were...enslaved. We _do_ know that Mei is dead."

" _Mei_?" Iriana reeled and both female Tenno took hold of her to steady her. "But she had just _arrived_. She was so happy to help. Not to have to fight. I... No..."

"She merged with the Tower systems to keep the Forgotten from taking full control." Alicia said sadly. "Parts of her are still there. Not all of her. Karl is not taking it well."

"No." Iriana bowed her head. "No, he wouldn't." Mei had been a friend of his. Once. A long time ago. She had been a memory of happier times, even if she hadn't -quite- been the same person. Being killed and waking in someone else's body did that to a person sometimes. She hadn't fit in with his clan so she had come to the tower. Just in time for the horror. Iriana shook herself and focused. "Facility damage?"

"Very little." Alicia said as Jasmina stepped back. Iriana sighed inwardly, but understood. The Caretakers had a duty. A very important one. Iriana had toyed with the idea of taking the oath herself, but lots of people had worked to talk her out of it. Iriana turned her back on the fallen Juggernaut as Jasmina's warframe started to glow. She would incinerate the fallen Juggernaut no matter how much power it took. She would sterilize the area to keep the Technocyte Virus from spreading. It was part of her duty. "Most of it concentrated in this area."

Iriana nodded and started off. The others followed her, Alicia right beside her and Wilmi step behind. She ignored the glow behind her, the sudden his and roar of flame.

"So we don't know yet how many of my people are still alive." Iriana said quietly. "And the prisoner?"

"Secured." Alicia said flatly. "Nikis wants it dead and he and Hayden were arguing about it when I left." Iraina froze and Alicia nodded. "Yes. Hayden took a physical form to eliminate the Forgotten command center. He is the sneakiest of _any_ of us. You know this."

"That is forbidden." Iriana said weakly. "I mean... He is the _First_ , but... That is forbidden."

"You missed some things, Iriana." Alicia said kindly. "We have gathered the survivors up in another room and are examining them now." Iriana nodded.

"Where?" Iriana demanded.

"Iriana." Alicia said quietly. "You don't want to see."

"No, I don't." Iriana said flatly. "I _need_ to. Where?" Alicia sighed and nodded. She started off and Iriana followed. "Any injuries among our people?"

"Just the Juggernaut." Alicia's tone was odd. Not surprising. Ordinarily, when Tenno met infested, it was always a battle to the death. To have an Infested _sacrifice itself_ for her and her kin had to be... disconcerting. "Serene is... not doing well, but she is not _physically_ hurt."

"I will help if I can." Iriana said quietly. "But I know about losing loved ones." She did not look over her shoulder to where the red and black warframe stood. Alicia glanced at Stalker but did not comment. They came to a door and it opened. Just inside... Iriana froze. "Oh my _god!_ "

Four Tenno in warframes were walking about, doing things medical in nature. But that wasn't what made Iriana exclaim. Dozens of human forms stood arrayed around the room. Some large. Some small. All were covered in silver metal. But the faces! She _knew_ the faces.

"Pat!" Iriana screamed s she ran forward, grabbing one of the silver forms. But it did nothing. It did not move. It was her head medic. But... it wasn't. "No... No..." Iriana begged as she hugged the still form. " _Tell me they are alive!_ " Iriana screamed.

"We don't know." Alicia said softly as she gently but firmly pulled Iriana away from the silver statue that had been a kind and generous woman once. "The records say that the last time they did this, the afflicted recovered in time. But the cure... The Forgotten destroyed it."

"Do you know what it was?" Iriana was crying now as she stared around. Some of the forms were male. Some female. Some were... small. The Forgotten hadn't even left the kids alone. "From what Healer told me, it was some kind of nanobot restructuring."

"It is." Alicia confirmed. 'But we have no idea what kind. We do know that the only way to stop them is to reprogram them. Not even Olim can get into the code to do that. He has tried." Iriana slumped a bit and Alicia held her. "The records do not say _what_ the cure was. Just that it _worked_."

"Wait." Iriana shook herself. "If _Hayden_ is here, wouldn't _he_ know?"

"He says 'no' and I believe him." Alicia said sadly. "Whatever the cure _was_ , it was apparently very expensive to build. And from what little we have gleaned from records, it was _horrific_." Iriana stilled and Alicia nodded. "None of the First who we have spoken to know or can say. I think... They may have been sworn to silence. Or _some_ of them."

"So they can't say." Iriana said softly. Alicia nodded. "Damn."

"Oracle said you can find the source." Stalker said from where he stood. Iriana did not look at him and he sighed. "Yes, I know, Iriana. But this _must_ be fixable or she wouldn't have stopped Nikis form killing you."

"Death is far more merciful than that." Iriana nodded to the silent silver forms. "But... I don't know anything about nanobots. Damn it, I am a _Healer_ , not a _robot technician_."

"Wait..." Medic Wilmi spoke into the silence that fell after the Healer's harsh words. "Maybe we are looking at this the wrong way." All eyes landed on her and she wilted a little. "I mean, those things were organic. They lived. So... Were the nanobots actual machines or organisms?"

"With some things, the line blurs, Medic Wilmi." Iriana wiped her face with her hand and nodded. "But it is a good thought." She shook her head, turned back to the still silver woman and hugged her again. "I will do what I can, Pat. I swear it."

With that, she stalked out of the room, only to pause as Alicia grabbed her arm. An odd cavalcade passed. None of the four small furred forms looked to either side and the dark haired girl's face was remote. Tiny furred forms peered out from her arms. The Vauban warframe that brought up the rear seemed subdued.

"What is Cecelia doing here?" Iriana asked, stunned as she watched the four cats and their honorary mother disappear around a corner with their escort. "I thought she stayed on Avalon with the... the other cats. Oh no... _Matril_!" The cat had been mapping the ducts for her. Had he...?

"He is alive." Alicia said softly. "But he won't be for long."

"Wait..." Iriana froze. Something... "He is augmented. He can hack things that no one else can, no?"

"Iriana..." Alicia warned.

"I wonder." Iriana stared at where the cats and their den mother had been. "I need to make a call. Fast."

"I am not going to cross the cats, Iriana." Alicia said firmly. "They know where I live."

"You won't." The Healer promised. "I need to make a call. Now."

 **A private ICU room**

It was hard. Harder than anything Cecelia had ever done. But she had promised, so she did it.

She knelt beside the tiny bed and bowed her head as the other cats slowly sank down around her. Matril's still form looked perfectly normal except for a tube down one nostril that provided oxygen. Bastet, the red furred beauty that was sneakiness made incarnate. Grisha, the black furred wetwork specialist who was just plain scary even when she wasn't _trying_ to be. Jumper, the brown and grey patched specialist in intelligence analysis. And Isis, the white cat that all of the others deferred to. Stood to reason. No one _sane_ wanted to anger a healer and she was the eldest of the survivors. By only five minutes, but still. Half a dozen tiny furred forms stood by Isis. Cecelia had carried them through the portal, carried them past the watching Tenno. Carried them into this room, but now? She was an observer.

"You crazy male." The white cat said sadly. "Of all the silly, stupid, heroic plans. You just _had_ to find a way to land on your _head_ , didn't you?" She gave the still calico form's fur a lick. "You know that dead heroes are worth _nothing_. You _know_ that!" Cecelia held out a hand and Isis rubbed her head against it. "Matril, you _fool_. Why did you _do_ that?"

"Was needed." Matril's voice was a tiny, soft wheeze. Was it aloud or mental? Hard to say. "Nyx and Chroma were not getting through. Needed a push. Gave it. No regrets."

"Damn it! Don't you _dare_ leave us, Matril!" Bastet was crying. "We are all we _have_! You can't leave us _now_! Not when we have new kits to teach!" The kittens shifted a bit and Cecelia hushed them with a wave.

"Don't want to." Matril replied. "But when Charlie calls the Foxtrot, you bring your best moves. You know it as well as I do. Every moment since the Grineer came has been..." He gasped and Isis did something. He relaxed and continued. "...has been a blessing. You know what you have to do."

"Matril..." Jumper had gotten his name for jumping anywhere and everywhere. He was almost always happy. Not now. "Yes." He bowed his head and tears were falling down his furred face. "Cecelia."

"I do not like this." Cecelia said softly as she took a slow step forward. Isis nodded to a tray nearby where a set of surgical tools had been laid out. Cecelia bowed her head.

" _We_ cannot access the systems, Cecelia." Isis said softly. "None of the Elders survived. They were the only ones with the disarm codes. Any attempt to access or hack will result in detonation. You do _not_ want to be in the room -or on this _floor_ \- if that happens." Cecelia paled but nodded. Ric moved to stand beside her, his silent presence a comfort.

"What if I screw up?" Cecelia asked as she started cleaning her hands.

"It will be quick." Isis said quietly. One of the kittens mewled in fear, but Bastet lay down beside it and started to groom. They would grow fast, kittens did. But none were old enough to understand anything but that the adults were all sad. "So don't screw up. Had to be organic too. And Tenno give off energy signatures that are recognizable." She nodded to Ric who nodded back. "We wouldn't ask this of anyone else, Cecelia." Isis said quietly. "If... If you can't..."

"No, I am _not_ going to let them toss his still living form out an airlock!" Cecelia snapped. "I don't _care_ if it is safer. He is my responsibility." She shook her head as sterile coverings encased her hands.

"You do me honor, Cecelia." Matril said sadly. "I wish..." He sighed. "I am ready."

"I am not." Cecelia said but then sighed and nodded to Ric who touched a control nearby. The mortally wounded cat's breathing slowed as anesthesia mixed with the oxygen he was taking in.

This was bad. It was going to _be_ bad. But Feline Corps operatives could not allow themselves to be taken prisoner. They _would_ not. So, Cecelia had to remove the augmentation that was all that was keeping Matril alive and dispose of it quickly. Before it _exploded_. Ric was here to assist, to advise. But _he_ could not do it or the augmentation would detect his energy and be set off. She had picked up a laser scalpel and was gauging where to cut when the intercom chimed.

"What?" Cecelia demanded, angry beyond measure.

"Cecelia, wait!" Iriana's voice was jubilant.

"We may be able to save him! _And_ us!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Exchanges**

"You cannot be serious."

Iriana ignored Nikis. She ignored the physical form in the not-quite-a-warframe that stood near Nikis. His posture was... _wary_? She strode for the door behind the Nekros, altering her course when Nikis moved to block her. She was careful not to jostle the tiny unconscious form in her arms.

"Iriana, what are you doing?" Suspicion sang in the Nekros' tone and the Healer could not blame him. "You shouldn't be here."

"And you _should_?" Iriana asked softly as she came to a halt. "Nikis, please move." She said softly. "Sun is in there, yes?" Nikis stared from the healer to the small from in her arms and shook his head. "Nikis, I know what to do."

"No one remembers or can say." Nikis said flatly. "Those _things_ killed so many humans, but why should _we_ care?" He demanded, snapping at the other male in the room who was unmoved.

"Who, Nikis?" Iriana asked, checking Matril's vitals. The tiny soldier was still alive, but for how long? She couldn't guess. The Nekros looked at her and Iriana's face softened. " _Who_ did they kill?"

Wonder of wonders, Nikis would not meet her gaze. Indeed, the hard bitten gunfighter _looked away_. Hayden sighed and spoke.

"Her name was Catherine." Hayden said quietly. "She and Nikis had... an understanding." Iriana nodded. She had expected as much. "She was human. A student who came to the Citadel to learn. Young and naive in some ways, but bright. Very bright. Kind and smart and funny. We all liked her. She saw Nikis and took it upon herself to make him laugh. It took work, but she did."

"What happened?" Iriana asked softly. Hayden's face turned sad.

"The Forgotten attacked." Hayden said softly. "It was a mess. They managed to get two sleeper agents past our security. Brainwashed humans. One of them was Catherine." Iriana inhaled sharply and Hayden nodded. "She didn't know what was happening. One morning, she just got up from breakfast, walked into our security center and turned most of it off before the duty Tenno could stop her. They restrained her and restarted everything but the damage was done. We beat back their attack, but there were casualties. None of our kin fell. Some of the students were injured or killed in the crossfire. But... When they were losing, they took control of Catherine again to try and access the reactor spaces. Blow us up. The automated security there killed her."

"Those _animals_ killed her." Nikis' voice was flat and cold. "Should have just slaughtered them all _then_!"

"Ah, Nikis." Iriana bowed her head. Hayden nodded silently. "And?"

"I was _with_ her at breakfast. I knew something was wrong when she got up and walked out in the middle of a conversation. But I couldn't stop her. Could hear her mind though. She was _screaming_ at me to stop her the whole time." Nikis snarled. "And I _couldn't!_ "

"Nikis, you were _twelve_ years old! _She_ was _thirteen_! You were both _kids_." Hayden retorted. "No one _wanted_ you to have to kill. No one. Yes, you had been training with us since you were seven, but _no one_ expected that. Not even _Chroma_. Who was _one_ of them." Nikis might have been a statue.

"I am sorry for your loss, Nikis." Iriana said quietly. "But killing what may or may not be the last of these won't bring your friend back." Nikis glared at her and she continued quietly. "And yes. I figured it out. We need her."

" _It_ , Iriana." Nikis growled. " _It_ is _not_ a human female."

"Neither am I." Iriana's soft words actually made the gunfighter flinch back. "Without a cure, the staff who were here are lost. So am I." Nikis did not move and Iriana pressed. "Nikis, we need a cure. I can make it."

" _You_ can." Hayden sounded more than a bit dubious. Iriana nodded. "And... you know this... how?"

"Because I checked with another source of information." Iriana kept her voice calm despite some of the vital signs monitors attached to Matril's form starting to dip. "I don't have time for this, Nikis. _Matril_ doesn't have time. I can save him. Him, Amelia, me. Even _Stalker_." She said sourly.

"And to do that..." Nikis said slowly.

"I need her." Iriana nodded to the door and started forward again. "No, I will not release her. No, I will not let her harm anyone else. But I need samples. With those and Matril here... I can do it."

"Sun is working." Nikis said softly as Iriana passed him. He did not try to stop her otherwise.

"I know." Iriana said with a grimace. "But we do not have time. Tell him?" She asked the pair of male Tenno.

"He knows." Hayden said quietly. "He is not happy."

"Is he ever?" Iriana walked to the door and it hissed open. What lay inside was not what she expected.

The Forgotten prisoner lay on a life support bed., her legs gone. She was speaking in a low tone to the Loki Prime warframe who stood beside the bed. He did not turn, but she could feel his animosity focus on her.

"Healer." The Interrogator's voice was flat.

"I need samples and then I am gone." Iriana said as she cradled Matril's form in one hand and readied a hypo in the other. The Loki Prime turned to look at her.

"Don't lie to me, Healer." Sun said softly. "What are you doing?"

"There is only one way to make the cure that Matril, Amelia and the others need." Iriana said sadly. "And yes, I know the cost. The Clergy didn't know what they had. I asked for specialized information and they provided it. They were curious, but they did as I asked."

"No..." The Forgotten on the bed sounded scared. "No! NO! NOT YOU!" She tried to writhe away from Iriana as the Healer stepped close but was stymied by the restraints that held her. " _Stop her!_ "

"What cost?" Sun asked as he blocked the Healer. Iriana did not speak and he spoke to the prisoner. " _What cost_?" He repeated.

"The machines are organic." The Forgotten was nearly babbling. "We make them, but we never knew _how_. They just happen. We learned to _use_ them! But they take brain matter to make."

"And?" Sun demanded as Iriana tensed.

" _OURS DOESN'T_ _ **WORK**_ _!_ " The Forgotten screamed as Iriana lunged. Sun grabbed her arm, but it was too late. She dropped the hypo. The neural feed that she had hidden under Matril latched into place on the Forgotten's skull and the world fell away.

 **Inside the Healer's mind**

"No!" A terrified scream led Iriana into a mental room where small form cowered away from her. In form, the being was human shaped. She was small, the size of a child. "Don't _do_ this. Please! You are _needed_!"

"I have to." Iriana laid Matril down and gave his mind a gentle push. "Matril? Come on, lazybones. You need to wake up."

"Who you calling _lazy_ , doc?" Matril gave a sigh and stretched a bit. Then he stiffened. "What the hell? I was... I was dead."

"Not yet." Iriana said gently. "Close, but not quite. We don't have a lot of time, Matril. I need you to hack something for me. It will probably hurt but it will heal you."

"Doc, what is going on?" The cat asked, staring around. "This is a virtual world and..." He went still as the Forgotten gave a keen. His fur spiked as he stared at the not-human form. "What is _that_ doing here?"

"This is not a virtual world." Iriana replied evenly, petting his head. "We are inside my mind. I can manipulate it a bit like a virtual world. I bet you do the same in your own mind." Matril shrugged and Iriana smiled. "I am not asking for secrets, Matril. I just need you to hack something." She took a step towards the Forgotten who screamed.

"Don't!" The Forgotten recoiled away from the Healer. "Stop! Don't! You will _die!_ "

" _Die?_ " The cat soldier asked softly, staring from one to the other. "What the hell?"

"Matril." Iriana knelt down beside the cat. "I need you to access the deep roots here. If you can, I need you to..."

 _ **NO!**_ The Forgotten screamed louder and a doorway opened on one wall. Iriana sighed and raised a hand, but...

"No." All eyes turned to the door. Amelia Priosa's face was sad as she strode _in_ through the door that led out of Iriana's mind. That led to the Forgotten's death. "Iriana, be _still_."

Something that Iriana had no name for grabbed hold of her and held her despite her struggles. She couldn't move! She couldn't speak! She couldn't do _anything_.

"Hello Matril." Amelia knelt down beside the cat and gave his head a scratch behind the ears, eliciting a purr.

"I saw you shot." Matril said quietly. "You went down and Kori dragged you onto the platform. Then you were gone."

"Yeah." Amelia said sadly. "Kori tried, but it was too late. The damage was too much. I died." The Forgotten keened softly and Amelia's grimaced. "They put me in stasis, but it was too late. Too much damage. They cannot revive me. As soon as they do, my body is dead." Iriana felt her eyes burn and Amelia patted her arm. "Not your fault, Iriana. None of this was." Iriana forced her mouth to open.

"No." Iriana managed to croak out but Amelia just shook her head.

"You have the right idea, Iriana." Amelia said quietly. "But the wrong _person_. _You_ have a life. I _don't_ anymore." The Healer fought whatever was holding her. It bent under her onslaught but it did not give, resisting her efforts to break free.

"We can save you!" Iriana protested. "Take you, pull out in ICU pod! Heal!"

"No, you can't, Iriana. I was hit nine times." Amelia's tone was super gentle now. "I... do not want to leave Sara and Serene. But they also have lives. I am dead, Iriana."

"Not yet!" Iriana snapped as Matril stared from one doc to the other.

"What am I missing?" Nether doc would look at him and he growled. To his surprise, the Forgotten spoke.

"The cure before was a young human girl." The Forgotten said softly. "Her name was Catherine. She died and they took her brain matter to make organic machines that countered ours. They kept her body alive." Matril hissed and the Forgotten nodded. "We... They also used part of _us_ to make the cure. We could feel it. It was wrong. What the Tenno did. It _felt_ wrong. We had to stop it. We did." She bowed her head. "They had merged one of us with Catherine. That one... of us was still alive."

"The Tenno... kept one of your kind _alive_..." Matril sounded as if he wanted to puke.

"And trapped in a machine connected to a brain dead human." The Forgotten said softly. "He was alive. He was aware! He was in _agony_! For _centuries!_ "

"You felt it." Amelia said softly. The Forgotten nodded. "Ah..." Amelia sighed. Something rocked the room and she sighed. "Yes." Her tone hardened. "We all need to _talk_."

Iriana felt faint as other forms stepped through the doorway on the wall. Stepped into her mind. Hayden. Nikis. Janet. Eliza. The _Reverend Mother!_

"Don't..." The Forgotten begged. "Don't let her do it!" The Reverend Mother nodded and moved to stand between Iriana and the Forgotten.

"We won't." The Clergywoman said flatly. "Amelia..."

"You cannot help me. Serene will need help." Amelia said sadly. "Lots of help. She is losing it. Please, if you can. Save my friend. " The Reverend Mother nodded. Amelia relaxed a little and then turned to the pitch black Nekros. "Nikis, I know you are not a nice man. But _this?_ " She demanded.

"I didn't do it." Nikis said quietly. "Don't know who did." Amelia crossed her arms and glared at him. He shrugged. "I didn't. I _would_ have." He said nastily. "But I didn't. I was twelve." All eyes turned to Hayden, who shrugged.

"I didn't know." Hayden said quietly. "I knew a cure had been made, but all of the medical staff had been working on one. It could have been any of them. Or all of them. I was just happy when a cure to the enslavement was produced. No one asked any questions." He eyed the Forgotten. "I should have."

"So angry." The Forgotten was crying now. "From the moment I was created I was so angry. Nothing else mattered. Just the anger. The pain. It hurt so badly." Her voice turned shrill. "Don't make me a monster again! Lady Nyx and Lord Chroma saved me! Please! I don't want to be as I _was_!" Her rant cut off, heaving in grief and fear.

For a long moment, no one spoke. But then the silence was broken. By _Nikis!_

"I know hate." Nikis said softly. "I have hated your kind since I found Catherine's broken body at the reactor door. I fought and killed your kind everywhere I could find them."

"We did the same." The Forgotten said weakly. "We did not know any other way. The pain and fear were too much. So many of us went feral. It took _him_ blowing us all up for Lady Nyx to get through." She nodded to Matril who smirked. "I am...the last. I think we knew we could not win. But the hate drove us on."

"What was done by both sides was awful." Amelia said quietly. "But what matters _now_ is what happens _next_. My body is dead. Use it."

"Not yet!" Iriana screamed. "There _has_ to be another way!"

 _There is._

Everything stopped as a pair of forms stepped through the doorway into Iriana's mind. One was a familiar Ember Prime warframe. Jasmina's warframe sprouted organic looking parts now at ankles and shoulders as well as a long tail like thing down her back. But it was the _other_ form that had everyone freezing. The Infested Ancient did not move.

"Healer. Jasmina." Iriana begged. "I can do it."

"Not at the cost of your _life_." Jasmina said sternly. "Your biological daughter is crying, Iriana. Will you orphan Sara and Mishka at a stroke?" Iriana looked away, she had no response for that. "The mind mass has run a number of simulations. Until we absorbed the biomass of the Forgotten and read their DNA memories, we didn't know. Now we do. The method the Tenno used was flawed. We think intentionally. To torture them all."

" _Intentionally_?" Iriana breathed in horror. But then she looked at Nikis who shook his head slowly. "Nikis?"

"I wasn't the only one who hated them." Nikis said softly. "There were others." He shook his head again. "I _could_ see Ember or Saryn doing that. I could." All eyes turned to Hayden who looked as if he wanted to spit. But then he nodded.

"Mag would have done _worse_." Hayden said sourly. "But she was incapacitated in the initial attack. Woke up after madder than hell." He sighed deeply and nodded. "We were all angry. Every last one of us. I can see one of us doing that. And some of the ones who were there were either not recoverable to the database or...went on." He shook his head. "What did you find?" He asked Jasmina.

"The organic machines react not as machines." Jasmina said quietly. "But as living organisms. The rewrites to people's minds can be undone but that will take time." She nodded to the Forgotten. "She will be needed."

"I would have..." Iriana and Amelia both started to say the same thing, only to shut their mouths in unison as everyone else glared at them.

"No." The Reverend Mother said firmly. "There has been too much harm down already. Amelia..." Her voice gentled. "Sara needs you."

"But I am dead!" Amelia said sadly.

"No, you are not." The Reverend Mother stepped to Amelia's side and laid a hand on her arm. "Not yet. Be calm. You are not past saving."

"I don't understand." Amelia begged but Jasmina eyed the Reverend Mother and the Clergywoman nodded. Iriana looked from one to the other, confused.

"I got a report from Vina. The bullets that hit you were tipped with the same organisms. Your body's functions have been suppressed. They didn't want _dead_ slaves." The Reverend Mother said gently. "Your brain is intact. Your mind is intact. The damage to the rest of your body is extreme, but not irreparable. It will take time." Amelia stared at the clergywoman and then started to weep quietly. The Reverend Mother bent down and embraced her. "There, there, honey. It is okay."

"And me?" Matril asked quietly.

"Iriana asked our help." Jasmina said as she knelt down by the cat. "You experienced neural shock on the same level that she did. We helped her. We can help you." She made a sour noise. "It will be fairly disgusting, but we can."

"'Fairly disgusting' pretty much describes my jobs." Matril said with a grunt. Jasmina made a motion and he jumped into her arms where he snuggled and started to purr as she petted him. "So, what do I need to do?"

"You?" Jasmina said gently. "Rest. Iriana and everyone else? Healer has a set of counters ready to test." Iriana jerked and Jasmina shook her head. "No. Not on you, Iriana."

"I..." The Forgotten female wilted a bit. "Will you need my flesh?" She asked, fear blossoming.

 _Yes_ The Infested Ancient stepped forward and to her credit, the Forgotten warrior did not flinch.

"Lady Nyx and Lord Chroma helped me see my wrongs." The female said softly. "Now... I see how many we did. I would die to fix them."

 _You do not need to._ Healer said quietly as its tentacles came down to touch the still Forgotten. _You will sleep through it._

"Do I have to wake up?" The fear and eagerness in the Forgotten's voice brought tears to Iriana's eyes. "I don't like... me."

 _Yes._ Healer's voice was sad as it worked, doing something. _It was not your fault but you will need to make amends._

"I will." The Forgotten said as she slumped slowly to the floor. "Just... one thing... Tenno Nikis... I ask something of you."

"Of _me?_ " Nikis asked suspiciously. "What?"

"None of us ever had names." The Forgotten said softly. "I ask you to name me." Nikis stared at her and then flinched. "Please?" She begged as he eyes slowly closed.

No one dared move as Nikis took a step, and then another to where the Forgotten was now lying on the ground, her face slowly going slack as Healer worked. He bent down and touched her cheek. When he spoke, his voice was soft and husky.

"Catherine."


	19. Chapter 19

**Commands**

Iriana jerked awake as something happened. She stared around, but nothing had changed. Sun had been polite, but firm in escorting her from the room where she had faked him out to mind link with the Forgotten. She had been gently, but firmly escorted back to her quarters and Alicia of Karl's clan had sedated her despite the Healer's protests. She had fallen asleep and now...She paused. Something _had_ changed. She wasn't alone. She reached for her skana, and held it carefully but the small human silhouette near one wall did not move.

"Who is there?" Iriana demanded as she sat up, ready to run or fight. She was _not_ expecting who jerked upright with a cry of fear.

"Healer." Medic Wilmi had been crying. Her face was a mess of tears. She stared at Iriana and then at the room around her wildly. "This is..." She slumped. "Where _am_ I?"

"These are my quarters, girl." Iriana relaxed, just a little. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know." Wilmi said weakly. "I was in a small room. It was comfortable. But... I think it was a cell. I wasn't... I didn't..." She stammered as Iriana rose from the bed. Then she slumped. "I have violated your privacy, do with me as you will."

"Tower?" Iriana asked quietly.

-Yes Healer?- Iriana did not jump -this time- when Mei's voice came from the tower. It wasn't her. Iriana knew that. But it hurt. She could only imagine what Karl was going through. Mei had been a fragment of his past, a not so bad memory of life before. Now? She was _gone_.

"How did Medic WIlmi get into my quarters?" Iriana asked calmly. The tower did not reply and Iriana scowled. "Did you transport her here?"

-She requires assistance.- The Tower said quietly. -You require another medic to replace Mei. The Tenno will not let her go unless you intervene.-

Iriana stared at the wall and then she looked at Wilmi. For her part, the human looked poleaxed. Iriana knew better than to argue. Arguing with an AI was rarely good for the stress levels. She rose and walked to where Wilmi sat.

"How old are you, girl?" Iriana asked softly as she sat beside the stunned human.

"Nineteen, Ma'am." Wilmi said with a gulp as Iriana reached out to take her hand.

"You are medic trained and you are sworn to Stalker." Iriana did not move was Wilmi's hand trembled in hers.

"He made us swear." Wilmi said weakly. "We... Our honor demanded that we obey. We didn't know who he was. What he would do to us. What he did. What he would make us do. It was... He just..."

"Shhhh." Iriana stroked Wilmi's hand and the human woman quieted. "Be calm. I knew him. A long time ago. I cannot trust him now but he _did_ sire my daughter." Wilmi's eyes went huge and Iriana nodded grimly. "There will always be that. But the Tenno will kill him."

"I don't know if they _can_ , Miss Iriana." Wilmi said weakly. Iriana tensed and the human woman nodded. "There is no body within the armor."

"What?" Iriana felt every muscle in her body tense.

"I do not know _what_ it is. Just..." Wilmi was crying again. "He took my oath. He bound me and..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! _'Bound'_ you?" Iriana asked softly, her mind slowly and cautiously easing out to caress Wilmi's. She could do that with physical contact. Touch organic minds. It was tiring, but worthwhile on occasion. What she found was _horrifying_. The human woman's will had been subverted. Not Corpus techniques brainwashing techniques, _Tenno_ ones. Iriana stiffened and then pulled Wilmi into a hug. "Oh child."

"It hurt." Wilmi sobbed into Iriana's shoulder. "He said he was sorry, but it hurt. It hurt so bad. I... I can't disobey him. I tried. It hurts."

"I know." Irina held the girl. "I _can_ help, but you will never be able to forget what happened. How he subverted your will. And you will never be able to go home. You have seen too much of secret things. Not unless you forget everything. And that would be a _waste_."

"Never had a home." Wilmi said weakly. "Was an orphan. The Arbiters took me in, trained me. I thought I knew what they wanted. Justice sounded like a good thing."

"Justice untempered by mercy is little better than _vengeance_." Iriana said softly. Then she froze. "No... No, it couldn't be." Wilmi stared at her and Iriana shook her head. "Not your problem, child. For child you _are_. You need help and I _exist_ to help others. _I_ will need help here, at the tower. Do you want a job?"

"But... you cannot _trust_ me!" Wilmi protested.

"Trust must be _earned_. But I will give the chance to earn my trust." Iriana pulled the girl into another hug as Wilmi started crying again.

It would be a long road, but a worthwhile one. And... she would keep her suspicions to herself. For now, she had healing to do. Herself, Wilmi and others. Later, she would talk to Mishka. Both with have time to think. If the Arbiters _were_ allied with Stalker, or _he_ with _them_... That did not bode well.

She shook herself and started to console Wilmi. She was no politician. She was no Warrior. She was a Healer and this girl needed her.

 **Avalon**

"I cannot do this."

Eliza sat in her small apartment on Avalon and shook her head. She was not alone.

"I cannot do this." The Empress repeated.

"You must." The woman who wore a golden gown that looked far older than Eliza's own said quietly. Talia -the First Empress of Orokin- looked middle age, but Eliza knew she had died in her fourth century. It was odd. "You are the only one who can, Empress."

Eliza stared down at the single table in her small room. On it, a datapad sat. On the datapad, names scrolled by swiftly. A tap on the pad froze the screen. A tap on a name brought up information on the name. Who the person had been. What they had done -good and bad-. All of the information available on the person. Or, on the shade of the person who was now residing in the Orokin database. So many names.

"I cannot _choose_ , Talia." Eliza said sadly. The one time she had tried to call Talia 'Empress' the other had thrown what could only have been described as a temper tantrum. The Royal Guard had been _less_ than amused. "You are asking me to consign _how_ many souls to oblivion?"

"Your databanks here can hold 3,487,234 in comparative comfort with enough space for them to move and work or play their Game." Distaste rang in Talia's voice now. "So..."

"No!" Eliza snapped. " _Don't_ say it!" She slumped in her chair. "Talia, I can't do this." She buried her face in her hands. "I have had to do some hard things here, but I _cannot_ do _this_."

"I understand, Eliza." Talia's face was so very sad now. "Maybe that is for the best?" Eliza stared at her distant ancestor and Talia grimaced. "I never expected this. I had hoped to give grieving family a chance to say goodbye. Nothing more. I knew grief and saw it in so many people I cared for." She slumped a bit. "I was trying to be kind."

"I know." Eliza sighed and stared at the database roster. "But... I cannot, Talia. I am sorry." She reached out and shut the pad down with a tap. "I cannot."

"Most of them will bless your name." Talia said quietly. "I know that the Tenno and _I_ will."

"Miguel will lose his family. Again." Eliza was fighting tears. The Gunnery Sergeant hadn't said a word when told of what was coming. He had just nodded even thought he only remnant of his family were shades that resided in the database now. "My own daughters. The..." She laid her head down on the table. "I am sorry, Talia. I cannot do it." She lost her battle.

"It is all right, Eliza." The physical form of the First Empress came close to the now crying current one and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It is going to be-" She snared as the door chimed. " _What_?" She demanded.

"Two to speak to the Empresses." Michelle's voice was controlled. A shade too controlled. Eliza stared at the door and then at Talia who looked back, they shared the same expression. Resignation. Talia handed Eliza a cloth and Eliza wiped her face, resuming her 'Empress' persona. This wasn't likely to be good. _Both_ Empresses had said not to be disturbed except for emergencies.

"Come." Eliza said quietly. The door opened and Michelle stepped in, followed by Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith and... Eliza went still as she saw Jenni carrying Rocky, with Sara beside her. Tenno Jac followed, hefting her two little ones as well. Michelle's guard Petra stayed outside. _That_ made Eliza's eyes narrow and she felt Talia suddenly tense beside her too. "Yes?" The current Empress asked. To her surprise, Michelle looked at Jenni who nodded.

"This is not needed." Jenni's voice was sad, but firm. "What this is doing to _you_... Empress, you don't need to do this."

"Jenni." Eliza sighed deeply. She kept her voice mild. "If they broke in once, they can again. They will. It is what they do. You know better than any." She rebuked the woman gently. Jenni was -had been anyway- a member of the Corpus Clergy. One of the spiritual advisors/ secret police of the technologist and profit driven cult.

"I beg to report to the Empress that my connection to the Clergy has reasserted itself." Jenni said, eyes downcast.

"I know." Eliza's voice was still mild. She had the woman under full time surveillance. It wasn't easy but leaving a spy to roam around free in the last bastion of Orokin was a _bad_ idea.

"They were distressed to hear what had happened." Jenni said sadly. "They have known of the database for long time and have striven to keep the regular Corpus from discovering it's accesses. They failed."

"Jenni." Eliza sighed and motioned to the bed. "Take a seat. I know Rocky is growing. And I bet Jac needs to sit too."

"He is a baby." Jenni said with a small smile that never touched her eyes. "They do that." Jac snorted softly but smiled and sat, laying her son down on the bed while she checked her daughter.

"I remember." Eliza said with a fond smile as Jac started to change her daughter's diaper. She had been dismayed and honored in equal measure when Aeron and Jac had named their girl 'Elizabeth'. She knew better than to argue. Karl had _tried_ to get the pair to change the boy's name, but Aeron and Jac had stood firm. Little Carl would be a fine Tenno someday if Eliza was any judge at all. "Are you two getting enough sleep?" She asked, concerned.

"Sleep?" Jac asked with an impish smile. "What is this 'sleep' thing you speak of?" Eliza had to snicker at the younger woman's tone, but Jac sobered. "Yes. I do. Thank you, Eliza. It can be stressful and exhausting. But I have help." Eliza looked at Jenni who frowned.

"I..." Jenni sighed. "Not enough." She admitted. "I was going to talk to Chirurgeon tomorrow." Eliza nodded. She had been apprised, but no one would push unless Jenni failed in her duty to Rocky and Sara, which she had not. She was failing in her duty to _herself_. "But this is not about us. This is about you, Empress." Something in the woman's voice... Eliza felt herself relaxing. It wasn't manipulation. It wasn't anything that Eliza could recognize instantly. Then it hit her. It was empathy. Jenni _understood_. Eliza went still and Jenni nodded. "We -The Clergy and I- talked quite a bit when they pinged my mind. I... They didn't tell me much. They refuse to tell me what I did. I know it has been... a long time."

"You did what you had to do, Jenni." Eliza said softly. "As do I."

"Begging an Empress' pardon..." Jenni said softly. "But, no you _don't_." Eliza and Talia both went still at that. "The Clergy know of the database. The Clergy know of its vulnerability and yes, they -we- are _terrified_."

"It has to end." Talia said softly.

"Does it?" Jenni asked softly. "Or does it need to _change_?"

"What do you _mean_?" Talia demanded. "It can't. It was _designed_ not to."

"Everything changes uh... Ma'am." Jenni stumbled a bit trying not to call Talia 'Empress'. They had heard. Most of _Avalon_ had heard. "It won't be easy. But according to the Clergy and some Tenno who were asked..." She nodded to Jac who nodded back. "It can be done."

"By who?" Eliza demanded.

"By _everyone_."

 **Somewhere**

Tina woke. As had been promised, nothing hurt now. Everything was in the green. She smiled up at the woman who had been tending her. Who had helped pick out a new name for her. Who had -in almost every way- created a new life.

"Sister Harriet. Is it done?" She asked as her augmentation came online.

"It is." The Clergywoman stepped away from her controls and nodded to the woman on the bed. "How do you feel?"

Anyone who did not know Harriet would think she was emotionless. But the woman who had been Reclaimer 12-G-1287645 _did_ know Harriet. They had spent a great deal of time together. Tina wasn't sure how much. It blurred. But she _did_ know that Harriet and the other named Nadia had saved her life. Not just that, given her purpose. Where before, she had been a nearly mindless, vicious tool and nothing more, now she had a purpose. Part of Tina knew she had been programmed to feel that way. The rest of her didn't care. It felt heavenly. She found... she liked things. She hadn't liked many things as a Reclaimer.

"I can't define it." Tina said after a moment. "It's not something I have words for. Good, I think."

"We have had some new information come to light." Harriet said quietly. "Some alternate possibilities. We do need you still. Can you continue?"

"As I understand it..." Tina said carefully. "...this serves the Grineer as well as the Corpus and everyone else. If the Grineer or Corpus access the database, the energy discharge will destroy all life in the system." Harriet nodded and Tina continued. She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "Yes. I can."

"Are you _sure_?" A momentary glimpse past the Clergywoman's tight control showed Tina a depth of pain that even _she_ was unprepared for. Harriet went still as Tina stood up, walked to her and hugged her gently. "Tina?"

"This hurts you, what you do." Tina said sadly as she held the frozen Clergywoman. "I wish I could help."

"It is needed." Harriet said as she folded her arms around the clone. "I am good at what I do."

"Yes, you are." Tina said quietly. "I am ready. But...you are not."

"What?" Harriet stared at the Grineer, confused. Her confusion grew and Tina released her and knelt slowly, bowing her head. "Tina?"

"Will you bless me, Sister?" Tina begged. "I find... I am afraid. Not of death. Of failing. Of failing _you_." Harriet froze, her hand halfway to the clone's head.

"Tina..." Harriet breathed.

"You are _everything_ I wish I had been. I was evil. Mean spirited. Lustful. Cruel for its own sake." Tina said savagely, her head still bowed. "You are kind. You are gentle. You are compassionate. And you are dutiful. You are merciless. You do what is needed, but _only_ what is needed." Harriet was staring at her, eyes huge and Tina nodded. "In every way that matters, you made me. _You_ are my Mother." At that, Harriet actually recoiled. Tina did not move. "Please?" Tina begged. "I mean no offense!"

"It's all right, Tina." Harriet said softly. "You startled me." She stepped close and laid her head on the clone's brow. "Guide and ward this wayward sister through the peril she must traverse. Give her strength to face her trials with diligence. Strengthen her to face her fears and her enemies. Be a rock for her to stand on. Be her light through the darkness. Amen."

"Amen." Tina said as she rose and hugged Harriet again. Then her form wavered and vanished as her mind left the virtual world.

Harriet stared at where the Grineer had been and then knelt down to the floor. Tears fell.

"Oh, Harriet..." The Reverend Mother's voice was kind and sad as arms enfolded Harriet and held her as she cried. "It is all right, daughter. It is all right."

"I had forgotten..." Harriet said through her tears as her mind was whisked back to where her body lay in a hidden Clergy facility. "... _how much it_ _ **hurts!**_ " She wailed. It had been some time since she had been emotional. Had allowed herself to feel.

"It's all right, Harriet." The Reverend Mother was there when her physical eyes opened. A hand came down to brush tears from her cheek. "You just need time. And now?" Her voice turned stern. "I am going to _get_ you that time."

"Reverend Mother." Harriet protested.

"You are starting your _vacation_." The Reverend Mother said sternly. "Right _now._ " She pulled Harriet from the bed the sister had lain on and to a portal. "I will keep tabs on you, Harriet. If you try to work or anything besides relax and recover, I _will_ have Vina punish you."

"You... you can't send me _there!_ " Harriet protested, but trying to pull away from the Reverend Mother's grip was useless. She was _far_ stronger than Harriet.

"Watch me." The Reverend Mother pushed Harriet onto the portal platform and smiled at Harriet's expression as the portal grabbed her and took her to a place where she could -finally- relax a bit. Then she sighed and turned to another room.

"The Board is just going to _love_ this..."

 **Luna**

Tina materialized in a Grineer facility. The two guards did not react as she stepped forward. Then again, her armor and weapon showed her to be a member of the Royal Honor Guard. Not a good idea to irritate any of the clone women of that group. She kept her expression haughty and angry as she stalked forward. But then an angrier voice sounded as a Grineer appeared nearby. His form was distinctive. No other Grineer had _energy_ playing across his midsection.

"You are _late_." Vor said with a snarl.


	20. Chapter 20

**New**

"Yes, sir." Tina said, saluting. "No excuse, sir." Vor grunted and started off. She followed.

"The room is guarded at all times and warded from energy forms." Vor's expression was his habitual grimace, but his tone was quiet, cautious. Stood to reason. What they were getting ready to do was treason. The Twin Queens had demanded access to the database, not knowing what lay within. Or _caring_. Vor however...knew. "I cannot enter."

"Why I am here, sir." Tina replied evenly.

"No one has said, but unless I miss my guess, there will be a massive diversion starting any time now. So _move_." Vor vanished and Tina started off.

Part of Tina was screaming that this was wrong. That she had to report herself. Do something to stop this. She ignored it. She strode through the halls, ignoring the various clones that made way for her. An elevator and another corridor, this one older. Deeper into the surface of the moon. As she walked, Tina mused.

Did the Grineer even know what the room held? Or just that it was Orokin in nature and thus a treasure to be protected? She didn't know. She didn't know if it mattered. She had a mission. A door ahead had a Bombard and a Heavy Gunner guarding it. She did not react, but her augmentation's maps showed that to be her destination. She walked up to the Heavy Gunner and held out a datapad, ignoring the male. He was beneath notice.

"My orders." Tina said calmly. The Heavy Gunner looked at her and then took the pad to scan it. Tina wasn't sure who had provided the pad or when. It got...fuzzy after she had teleported from where Harriet had worked on her.

"Irregular." The Bombard said, but froze as both the Heavy Gunner and Tina glared at him. He stiffened back to attention.

"Is this the best they can do these days?" Tina inclined her head to the Bombard and the Heavy Gunner gave a sniff of derision.

"He isn't as stupid as he looks." The Heavy Gunner replied absently.

"Well, good." Tina replied with a nasty chuckle. The male studiously ignored the insults. It was generally safer than drawing female Grineers' eyes. That usually meant pain and not a little of it. "Is there a problem?" She asked after a moment.

"The orders are clear." The Heavy Gunner said, handing the pad back. "But _our_ orders are that _no one_ enters."

"I see." Tina said with a nod. "Wait one. I will get higher on the com." She strode towards a com unit that was set against one wall, only to pause as the Heavy Gunner coughed. "Yes?"

"What 'higher'?" The Heavy Gunner asked carefully. "Our orders come from the queens." Tina did not have to look to see both the Heavy Gunner and the Bombard were aiming at her.

"I know." Tina replied evenly. "I will contact Commander De La Thaym and _she_ will get in touch with the queens." She glanced over her shoulder to where the others were staring at her, weapons slowly lowering. "What?"

"You can just... call her?" The Heavy Gunner asked cautiously.

"I can." Tina lied evenly. "But she does _not_ like being disturbed at times." She shuddered and it was not feigned at all. What she had been _told_ about the Commander... "We all better hope she is not...entertaining. She gets _testy_ when interrupted." Both the Heavy Gunner _and_ the Bombard shuddered with Tina.

"She is not normally?" The Heavy Gunner asked, then froze. Tina just snorted.

"Worse when she is interrupted." Tina said with sour laugh. Then she stiffened. _What_ had she just seen? It was out of the corner of her eye and none of her augmentation had picked it up. She spun, looking, but nothing showed now. She shook her head.

"What?" The Heavy Gunner demanded, looking from side to side. But she saw nothing neither.

"I don't know." Tina said slowly, all of her senses on high alert. "I saw something but..."

Whatever else she was going to say was cut off but a searing pain that slammed through her back. She stared down at the gleaming point of the curved red and black blade that extended _out_ of her chest. Something had hit her in the back hard enough to slice right _through_ her. She fell to her knees as the pain suddenly stopped and the blade vanished.

"Tenno SKUUM!" The two other Grineer shouted as Tina fell. Red and black armored humanoid legs straddled the fallen Grineer and she stared as it charged _both_ of the guards. But it didn't hurt now. Her augmentation had sealed the wound. Was she healing? Dying? She didn't know. Both of the guards opened fire, but Tina couldn't move as the Tenno charged them.

He was a whirlwind of edged metal as he dove first to one side and then the other. The Heavy Gunner slammed the ground as he approached her, but he rolled somehow and slid under her guard. Then he struck. Tina gasped as the other female Grineer fell, a huge hole cut right through her torso armor. No way she was getting up from that. The Bombard fired a desperate rocket at far too short range. Tina's eyes went huge as the Tenno dove right through the blast to impale the hapless Bombard to the wall with his... his odd weapon. She couldn't take her eyes form it. It was long and had a wicked curved blade affixed to the end of it. That blade was what had hurt her. But she was still alive? She shouldn't be. How? She quailed inside as the Tenno turned back to her, it's blade sliding free from the dead Bombard with an evil hiss.

An angry shout came from the side and Tina stared as a hail of fire came from that direction. The Tenno turned and without a backwards glance, ran off. A dozen strong patrol of Grineer pounded past Tina in pursuit and suddenly, the corridor was silent.

 _Tina, can you move?_ The voice wasn't anyone she knew. Was it? The female sounded familiar. Concern rang in her voice. Tina rose to her hands and knees, fighting herself as her insides rebelled.

"Yes." Tina could barely hear herself as she took a tottering step towards the door. Then another.

 _You only have a few minutes._ The voice said urgently. _Hurry._

"Right." Tina touched the pad beside the door and stared as it clicked open without any input from her. "What the-?"

 _We prepared you the best we could. Step inside._ The odd female voice in her head urged her on and she took a step forward into the dark room. _But you have to do this. I cannot aid you once you begin the sequence. No one can._

"If I do not do this, they told me everything will die." Tina said softly.

 _Yes._ The female voice was so sad now. _Your ancestors were treated poorly. You have been abused for most of your life. And you chose to aid us._

"I was...a monster." Tina said as she hit a light switch and then stared. The room was not Grineer. Or... it was. The door and surrounding area was. The rest was golden and white. All gleaming surfaces. "Orokin?"

 _Yes._ The other said softly. _I have to leave now, Tina. There is much to do and not much time._

"Wait." Tina begged as she stepped towards the sole console that she could see. "Help Harriet. Please?"

 _We will._ The other promised and then, like a breath of dream, she was gone.

"Okay." Tina said as she examined the console. No controls, simply places to put human style hands. She removed her gloves and laid them aside. Then she jerked as the door behind her opened. She slapped her hands onto the console before any of the troops she could hear behind her could even fire.

It didn't hurt.

 **Somewhere**

 _She was flying. No, she was floating. She heard music. Beautiful music. She opened her... No. She didn't seem to have eyes, but she could see anyway. She saw a female Grineer body -hers- stuck by many fast flying pieces of metal. It fell against the console and collapsed, sprays of bodily fluids going everywhere as it -she- fell lifeless. That should have affected her. It did not._

 _"What...?" Tina asked into the silence that surrounded her. She could hear music far, far away. She was not expecting a reply. She got one. It was not anything she could have expected._

-What do you wish?- _The mind impinging hers was calm, cool. It was powerful. Neither male nor female. It was beautiful._

 _"The database accesses must be reoriented." Tina said into the sudden stillness. The music had faded._

-That is being done.- _The voice said calmly._ -What do  you wish?-

 _"I don't know." Tina said weakly. "I am brand new to this life. I... I wanted to see more of it." She felt scrutiny on her, through her. It wasn't hostile. Indeed, there was no emotion at all in the scrutiny, but no mercy either. Every single facet of who and what she was -who and what she_ had _been- was laid bare. She felt herself start to cry. "No..." She begged. Was it her imagination that the voice sighed?_

-Oh, child.- _The voice turned gentle now._ -It is not  your fault. You knew no better.-

 _"I..." Tina was sobbing uncontrollably now as something lifted her up and held her gently."I don't know what to do!"_

-I do.-

 _And she was flying again._

 **An end**

All across the Solar System, effects were felt. Few knew what happened. Fewer still cared. But nothing would be the same.

The Corpus teams attempting to access the path that a survey team had tried with lethal results stared at their instruments as the powerful energy readings that they had been following simply vanished. No amount of thought or prayer brought any of the readings back and they had to return to their superiors and report failure. The Clergy watched as the Board punished many of them. They did not interfere. That was not their job.

The Grineer -infuriated beyond measure- beat against the solid bulkheads of the now silent room where Tina had fallen. They tried accessing the network, but it was dead. More than dead, utterly inert as if no power had ever flowed through its circuits. The room was now a monument to Orokin, nothing more. They tore that entire corridor apart trying to find a way to reactivate the console in the room. They could not.

Most of the Infested did not care. A tiny fraction breathed a sigh of relief as energy patterns that few could see or sense stabilized. The Balance was reset.

And then...

She woke. This was wrong. She... wasn't supposed to wake. Was she?

"Easy, Tina." A quiet male voice sounded from nearby and Tina opened her eyes to see a man wearing an odd archaic looking uniform sitting nearby. He nodded to her. "You have had a rough day. But you will be all right."

"What...? Happened...?" Tina managed to croak. The man held a glass with a straw so that she could sip and the water tasted heavenly. She... She stiffened as she realized she had _two_ flesh and blood eyes. "I..."

"Easy." The man said gently as he took the glass away and set it on a table nearby. "I know you are confused. But it is all right. You are all right."

"This isn't right." Tina pleaded as she tried to access her augmentation and could not. "What have you done to me?"

"We did as you wished, Tina." A new voice sounded from nearby. Female. Used to being obeyed. Tina felt her body try to straighten to attention despite being in the bed and the woman made a noise of dismay. "No, no." A woman wearing a golden gown came into Tina's view and Tina's eyes went huge. The crown on her head was glowing! "Don't strain, dear. You are all right." She soothed Tina's fear with calm words. "You are all right."

"What happened?" To Tina's horror, she started to cry. "I failed."

"No." The woman said softly as she sat beside Tina. "No, you didn't. You did exactly what was needed. What do you remember?"

"I..." Tina tried to bring things to mind, but they wouldn't come. She had been... underground? She had been in front of a console? She had been...flying? She jerked and the woman took one of her hands on both of her own. Tina's hand was tiny. "I can't remember!"

"That is probably for the best." The woman said gently. "You will need time to acclimatize yourself to your new body." Tina's eyes went huge and the woman smiled again. She had a marvelous smile. "You wanted to be human. We made you a human body."

"But... I am not." Tina said weakly.

"Now you are." The woman said gently. "And... someone wants to talk to you." Tina stiffened as the woman put her hand down and rose to step aside, making way for...

"Harriet?" Tina said weakly.

"I didn't believe." Sister Harriet had been crying. She looked _awful_. "You were going to die and I... I couldn't handle it."

Tina stared at Harriet and then at herself. Her body...was far smaller than Harriet's. In fact, it didn't look mature. She stared at herself and then at the woman with the crown who nodded.

"We bent some rules." The woman said quietly. "Sister Harriet, take what time you need."

"I... I have to go back." Harriet protested only to have the woman glare at her. She shut her mouth with a click.

"Take what time you need." The woman with the crown said sternly. "Tina will need help. Both in acclimatizing to her new body and in adapting to the changes." Harriet bowed her head.

"Yes, Ma'am." Harriet said softly. The woman with the crown and the man both left without another word.

"What happened?" Tina begged as Harriet sat beside her.

"I didn't know they were planning this." Harriet said, taking Tina's hand in hers. "This makes no sense to me."

"On the contrary, Harriet." Tina did not jump as a hologram appeared in the middle of the room. The woman wore a robe with a hood that concealed most of her face. "It makes perfect sense."

"Oracle." Harriet's tone of mild reproof was a groan to Tina. She knew the Clergywoman well.

"You need help, Harriet." The one called Oracle said quietly. "So does she. Two problems can often cancel each other out. She deserved far better than to be consigned to oblivion." Harriet bowed her head and Tina was moved to speak.

"Did it work?" Tina did not -quite- beg.

"It did." The one called Oracle said with a smile that faded. "Your body died."

"I... know." Tina wasn't sure how she knew. But she did. "So... what happened?"

"Your mind was pulled from your body." Oracle said calmly. "When the database was set into standby mode, the Guardians removed you. They sent you here. Harriet was already here. She had a breakdown." Tina gasped and squeezed Harriet's hand. The older woman squeezed back. "They helped her. But now? She needs more help. And you? You deserve a reward."

"I did what had to be done." Tina protested.

"I know." Oracle said calmly. "But you _did_ it." She wagged a finger at Tina. "You won't always like this. Parts will be a pain, especially when you hit puberty."

"What?" Tina demanded, confused.

"Grineer are created fully formed." Oracle said calmly. "Humans? They take time to grow. You will learn. You have time now. Your body is not falling apart. The genetic donors your body was created form are in perfect health."

"I don't understand!" Tina protested.

"You are not a clone, Tina." Oracle's smile was as gentle as the woman with the crown's had been. "That body is chronologically two days old. But biologically? It was made to be ten."

"I am...a child?" Tina asked, staring at her hand. Oracle shook her head.

"Physically, yes." The robed woman said with a shrug. "But psychologically? Spiritually? You are who you were when Harriet set you out on your mission."

"Then you cannot trust me." Tina said weakly. Oracle just shook her head. "What?"

"Yes, we can." Oracle's smile turned into a grin. "If you break the rules, your mom would disapprove." Tina stared at her and her eyes went huge as Oracle vanished.

"My..." Tina stared from where Oracle had been to where Harriet sat, still crying. Realization hit her like a hammer. "Oh... You were the donor."

"One of them." Harriet said sadly. "I didn't..." She broke off as Tina pulled her hand close and held it tight. "Tina, I abused you."

"No, mother." Tina pulled herself close to Harriet and held her as the Clergywoman sobbed.

"You _freed_ me."

 **Oblivion beckons**

"And... done." Eliza sighed as she cut the feed from where she sat. Harriet was crying with Tina as both came to grips with this new thing. That was not her business. Her business stood before her. Talia, Hayden, Loki, Trinity. All still in physical forms. Nikis stood behind them. Watching. "What now?"

"These forms will disintegrate when we leave them." Talia said calmly. "Nyx and Chroma have already returned to the database. Their forms have dissipated. I didn't think it would work." She said with a sigh.

"I wasn't sure either." Eliza admitted. They were alone in the room. "So, _all_ of the shades will sleep unless called?"

"Called by one of the Guardians of the Dead." Hayden corrected her. "No one else can access now. _No one_. The only access point is _here_." He turned to Nikis. "Good enough?" Nikis inclined his head. "Then this is farewell, Empress Eliza."

"Part of me is sad." Eliza said softly as she rose to her feet. "You will all be missed."

"We had our time, Empress." Talia said with a smile that faded. "Now? We sleep hopefully never to wake again. The database may no longer be a threat, but your duty is still to protect it. And us." Eliza bowed her head. "Fare thee well."

Just like that, all four of the ancestors of the modern Tenno and Orokin vanished. Eliza stared at where they had been and then nodded to Nikis who returned it. Then she spoke formally.

"We will watch. We will ward. If it is needed, we shall act." The Empress' words were calm and clear. The Nekros nodded to her.

"Yes." Nikis said quietly. "Yes we will. But for now? An end has come and a new beginning. Prepare yourself, Empress. Worse is coming."

"I know." Eliza shuddered. "Have the Tenno found Serene?"

"No." Nikis said with a sigh. "She was always sneaky. And now? She doesn't know that Amelia is alive."

"We are in trouble."

"Not yet." Nikis said with a sigh. "But soon."

 **Dark**

Far across the Solar System from Avalon, a dark form stepped into a dark room. In form, it was a female Tenno. She wore a Banshee warframe. But... her faceplate was open and her eyes... were _wrong_.

She stepped forward to take the bow from the wall ahead of her and slung it along with it's quiver. She took the throwing knives and slid them into her leg sheathes. She pulled the scythe down and swung it experimentally.

Then she _smiled_ as the colors of her warframe shifted. From dark grey and black to _red_ and black.

"Time to punish the guilty." Serene said as she slid Hate onto her back.


End file.
